The Nightmare Chronicles
by Ragdoll1416
Summary: Jack & Sydney must face evil forces to stop Oogie. Together, they will make new friends, and save Sally and both their worlds. But where Sydney stands on the line of good and evil isn't known. Camoes to come so far by: Goofy, Donald, Sora, and Spike
1. Chapter 1: 11 Years Ago

Chapter 1

11 Years ago 

"…Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! The end."

Sydney's mother closed the book, The Night Before Christmas, and placed it back on the shelf. 5-year-old Sydney watched her mother stretch her long adult arm to the top of the bookshelf. She was fascinated. Everything mature grown-ups did fascinated her. Especially when they did things she couldn't. Sydney was easily impressed.

Sydney's mother turned from the bookshelf and began walking back to where her daughter lay in bed. As she walked, her gown caught on the old wooden dresser. Her feet tangled and she let out a surprised cry as she toppled to the floor.

"Mommy!"

Little Sydney sprung from the bed for a belated rescue.

"Mommy's okay, sweetie," Sydney's mother reassured her as she was helped up, "but five years ago that would have killed me."

"Why?"

"I would have been scared to death of loosing you." And with that, she bent over and kissed Sydney's forehead. "Time for bed and prayers. We better hurry up, or Santa will pass our house, because-"

"He knows if you are sleeping. He knows if you're awake," Sydney interrupted.

She was proud to have committed so much to memory, in such little time. And she showed it.

Then her voice turned to a whine, "But I don't want to say prayers."

"What!"

"Well… the last part scares me."

Sydney's mom took her hand in hers.

"Honey, don't be afraid with your eyes or mind, face fear with your heart. If you do that, you can concur anything." Sydney's eyes glistened to her mother's beautifully, wise words. "Now face your fears, sweetie."

Sydney and her mother put their hands together and bowed their heads. Peeking through one eye, searching desperately for an excuse, Sydney noticed that her mother's nightgown had torn at the seams when it caught on the dresser.

"Mommy look," Sydney touched the torn spot, "your pajamas are ruined! You better change before moths come to eat the dead PJs, and accidentally eat you too. Hurry, I don't want you to be moth dinner!"

Sydney put on her best hyperventilation act. It was obviously a fake act.

"Okay honey, stop the spasm," drifted a sarcastic voice from the doorway. Sydney's father tiptoed in with a wide holiday smile. He spoke in a playful voice.

"You better hurry up and go to sleep, or Santa will pass our house. And if he doesn't come, then you will have ruined Christmas for all of us!"

He slowly shook his head and clicked his tongue at Sydney.

Her mom interrupted, with a smooth voice, "Mommy's gown will be fine. Daddy will

sew it up tomorrow."

Sydney's eyes grew wide and filled with interest.

"I thought only girls could sew," slapping her hands lightly on her cheeks and her face full of surprise, "Has the world been deci…deci…deci…um…lying to me?"

Sydney was stumbling on the word deceiving.

"Yes, it is mostly women that can work a needle and thread, but only the most loyal and intelligent men can sew. And when you get a boyfriend, if he ever sews anything for you," Sydney's mother turned to look into her husband's eyes, "hold onto him."

They both smiled, and then shared a soft, sweet kiss.

Sydney made a disgusted face.

"Ewww, boys are gross!"

Sydney's parents got back into a prayer position. She was confused at first, but then realized that her stalling accomplished nothing, except stall time. There was no getting out of it. Sydney put her hands together and bowed her head.

"Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep."

_It's okay_, Sydney thought to herself. _They're only words. Face fear with your heart. _

_Don't see it with your mind._

"For if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."


	2. Chapter 2: The Nightmare Before Chris

Chapter 2 

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Fire was everywhere. If Sydney had known what Hell was, she would have thought she was there. The smell of smoldering ash filled her lungs. Through the load cracking of the fire, she could hear the faint screams of two familiar voices. As she moved towards the screams, the fire rose and engulfed her into a tiny cubicle. There was no escape. Suddenly, before her very eyes, a wall of fire began to part. It appeared as if the fire was burning around an invisible sphere. It was more than five times her size. The sphere began to fill with the color white. Two large black holes spiraled into place beside each other on the sphere. They looked hallowed out. Two small black holes took form between the two larger ones. A thin snake-of-a-black-line slithered across the bottom of the sphere from left to right. It curved almost to resemble a smile. Finally, little stitch marks appeared all across the smile.

Sydney's breath stopped as she tried to take it all in. To her eyes, the figure came together as a humongous looking skull. Then the eyes glared and the smile became an evil sneer.

"Who are you?" whimpered Sydney.

The skull gave a deep, evil laugh. "Ha, ha, ha, ha! Beware you foolish mortal. For I am The Pumpkin-"

Sydney awoke. She turned over and felt the cold slush of sweat on her head and pillow. She ran her hand over her forehead and felt the salty dew. She swung her feet over the side of the bed and went to the bathroom. Her footsteps were muffled by the soft "pat pat" of the carpet, but nothing could hide the noise of the sink when she splashed her face. There was a rustle down stairs in the living room. Sydney froze, listening intently. There were a few thuds on the floor, some rapid footsteps, scratching, and then silence. Sydney was in a trance of fear.

Who could that be, she thought. What were they doing? Why now, Christmas Eve? Wait, Christmas Eve!

"Santa!" Sydney gave a loud squeak. She dried her head on the nearest rag and shot out of the bathroom. But of course, brakes aren't something a five-year-old takes into consideration. Sydney tried to stop at the top step of the stairs. That backfired. Her feet tangled, and she rolled and twisted all the way down the flight of stairs. She landed painfully on her face. Sydney lay mangled on the floor for a few seconds. After some involuntary twitching, she stood up, dusted herself off, and tiptoed to the Christmas tree; she didn't want to risk being heard, let alone demolish the tree with her breaks. Sydney walked through the dark house with her hands in front of her. She kept alert for the beaconing light of the Christmas tree. It glowed a rainbow of colors that flashed softly. She turned the corner to the living room and her eyes lit up. There before her was the shimmering Christmas tree, decorated with shinny, pastel ornaments. At the foot of the tree several presents nested cozy and untouched. It was beautiful.

Sydney slowly crept up to the tree. Apparently she was right about Santa's visit. There were many new presents under the tree. Strangely, the presents were wrapped in orange and black paper, Halloween colors, but Sydney didn't notice. She approached a package with her name on it. It was wrapped in orange paper and tied together with silver ribbon. She extended her hand slowly towards the present, and then drew back. She hesitated weather or not to touch it. She knew if she did, she would have the impulse to rip the wrapping to shreds and brake open the box. That's why her dad always had to hide the presents. Once again, Sydney extended her hand slowly to the gift. It hovered a centimeter over the box, for just a moment of hesitation. Her hand finally came down and slowly ran along the smooth surface. The impulse shot through her. The surge ran through her arms, into her fingers, and died at the paper as she tore off the wrapping corner from corner. She jammed her fingers into the lid slot and ripped the top off. The mystery of the present caused her to halt. She put her head close to the opening and tilted the box to her face. Sydney peeked inside. What happened then would change the course of her life forever.

In the gift was a dark object. Sydney hoped it was a doll. She pulled her arm back to reach inside. Just at that moment, the object looked up at her with two piercing red eyes. Sydney's heart jumped into her throat, but not before the dark object jumped out of the box. It leaped over her head and landed hard on the floor. Sydney jerked around to face the creature. It was a small, possessed doll. It looked like an anima monkey, cute and round, but with exceptions. In place of arms were bat-like wings. It had large fangs, black fur, and an evil face.

Standing to be two feet tall, the monkey glared directly at Sydney. Her blood ran cold. Her body shook to the beat of her speeding heart. The doll sniffed the air and gave an evil grin. It smelt her fear. The doll spread it's wings and leapt into the air. It began to flap, recklessly around the room. Things were knocked over. Possessions were broken. Loud crashes went through out the living. Sydney freaked out.

She ran around the living room screaming, " Mommy! Daddy! Mommy! Daddy! Mom-" SMACK! Sydney slammed against the wall. She slowly slid off it, making a sticky sliding noise, and collapsed onto the floor unconscious.

The doll was flying around the dark room and it bumped into the Christmas tree. The tree wobbled, then fell into the empty fireplace. As it fell, the branches caught the gas knob and a fire was ignited. The treetop sizzled for a few minutes, then a flame traveled along the trunk. The little flame eventually became a fat, healthy bon fire. It ate the tree and presents whole. The smell was ghastly, and the sight sick. The fire spread to the carpet, then the curtains, even the walls. The heated fury had expanded throughout the living room. It encased Sydney into a tiny space, which wouldn't stay fire free for long. Sydney's body gave small shivers from the intense heat. There was no escape.

The doll still flapped around the ceiling. It was overly excited by the action. Out of a mysterious act of either heroism, or stupidity, the doll swooped down over Sydney and snatched her small body up in its claws; the same as a bird would do to its prey. The doll could still fly, but the weight of Sydney caused the toy's wings to strain. In a struggle to stay in flight, they both crashed out the livingroom window. The doll wavered in distance from the ground as it flew on. It dropped Sydney in the snow, across the street from her house, while the doll flew off into the night. Just like a bat out of Hell.

Sydney awoke moments later. She sat up and wiped the moisture from her forehead.

She thought she was sweating in her sleep again, but she never got a chance to question where she was, or how she got there. Her eyes were filled with tears as she gazed across the street at her burning home. Noises of the cracking fire, faint screams, and emergency sirens filled the air; it was all muffled to Sydney.

Everything around her was horribly fuzzy, except for the final words of her parents, "…if I die before I wake…" These words were played over and over again in her mind. Sydney's stomach lurched. She held it tight in pain. Sydney bent over and threw up. Immediately after, she fainted again.

The next day, headlines of the imposter Santa on Christmas Eve appeared everywhere around the globe. This was the same imposter that broke into Sydney's house and left the evil present. This was the same evil present the caused Sydney's traumatic experience. This was the same traumatic experience that was completely over looked, in a small article titled "The Nightmare Before Christmas".


	3. Chapter 3: Today

Chapter 3 

Today

"No, no. That won't do. Too much fluff. Not enough black. That's good. And that's good. And…what the Hell is that? I like it, use it."

In this small, gothic-chic town, monsters were running around obeying the will and command of their skeletal leader. His royal name, The Pumpkin King, but he preferred for the citizens to call him Jack Skellington. Jack was a tall "bony" man. His figure was lanky, but he had surprising strength. And like everyone else, Jack was dead. In fact, he was a skeleton and a great leader of his empire, Halloween Town. Jack's main focus was on his work. Nothing distracted him, except for one thing.

"Sorry," Jack commented to a monster with a piece of holiday decoration, "its just not scary enough. Maybe you should instead-"

"Jack!" A soft voice from across the main square interrupted Jack's thoughts.

Jack jerked his head up. He rapidly scanned the area for the voice. Being the tallest monster in Halloween Town, navigation was easy for him.

"Jack, please come!" the voice called again.

Bingo! Jack spotted the source of the sweet voice. It came from a crudely constructed rag doll, across the main square. She was the kindest creature in Halloween Town, and had a mysterious beauty that you just couldn't place. Her name was Sally.

Jack pushed through the crowd of monsters that lingered around him. His gaze was transfixed on Sally. He hurriedly pushed through the mob, ran across the square, jumped and mid-air flipped over carts, and landed directly in front of Sally. His abrupt landing made her gasp in surprise. Jack tightly wrapped his long arms around her waist and drew her close. They were equally enjoying this moment.

"Yes?" Jack whispered playfully to Sally.

"I have something to show you," she replied with a voice full of flirt.

Hands linked, Sally led Jack to the graveyard, the most romantic place in Halloween Town. While walking, Jack turned his head to the other creatures. Some of the witches and female monsters looked at Sally with envy. The rest of the monsters either snickered or gave the thumbs up to Jack. With a smile, he merely looked down and shook his head.

Jack cried out, "Mayor, you're in charge until I get back! We shouldn't be more than seven or eight minutes!"

All the monsters burst out with laughter. Several were rolling on the ground. Both Sally and Jack blushed.

The Mayor replied, "Will do! You two play nicely now!"

Sally said under her breath, "Oh please." She smiled and rolled her eyes. Almost everything Sally said was with a smile. And Sally always smiled when she was around Jack.

Out of the corner of Jack's eye, he saw a faint flash of green light.

"Did you see that?" He asked Sally.

"See what?"

"It came from the professor's house. It must have been…who knows? In Halloween Town, it could be anything."

They continued walking through the large, old cemetery gate, past the hedge stones, under the hill with a curled peak, and into the pumpkin patch. Jack held tightly to Sally again. The moon made her beautiful eyes sparkle with innocence.

"Now, what was it you wanted to show me?" asked Jack.

Sally leaned in close to his face, "I almost forgot."

She gently pushed Jack away. This surprised him a little. Sally turned to bend over, and stood back up with two medium sized pumpkins.

"I got these," Jack relieved Sally of the pumpkin's weight, taking one in each hand. He held them up in a flexing pose.

"Wow, so strong." Sally coed, and ran her hand along Jack's upper arm. He smiled big.

"By the way, I dropped my finger behind you on the way up here. Would you mind getting it for me?"

"Of course," Sally turned and bent over the same way, and searched for Jack's finger.

"Jack, I can't find your finger. Plus, my legs are getting sor-" Sally paused. See felt a set of eyes on her backside. She turned her head and saw Jack checking her out! Sally stood up and inspected Jack's fingers while he held the pumpkins. His mischievous grin had her giggling on the inside. As she had suspected, all eight fingers were there. Sally said playfully, "You monster."

"And only yours." Jack leaned into kiss her, but she held a hand in front of his mouth.

"Don't you want to see what I have to show you?"

"Could it be any better than what you showed me a second ago?"

Sally ignored his question. She mentioned towards the pumpkins in his hands, "Which pumpkin would be best for your head? You know, for the Halloween finale as the scarecrow?" With disappointment on his face, Jack tried each pumpkin on his head. "Hmmm…I like the first one you tried on. It's not too big, not too orange. Just right! Jack, what do you think? Jack…are you okay?" True concern was on Sally's face. Jack sat down the pumpkins. He looked into her eyes and ran his bony fingers through her hair.

"I was just hoping to spend more quality time with you now. You know, outside of a business relationship."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well, sitting on the hill, conversing about our day-" Sally jumped into Jack's arms and interrupted his sentence by filling his mouth with a sweet kiss. This kiss was so good, Sally's legs popped up and her toes pointed. After a long time stopping moment, their perfect kiss ended with a smack. "Yeah, that's more what I had in mind." Sally giggled at Jack's humor. A breeze floated by and gently blew Sally's hair. Her eyes glittered in the moon. And her teeth sparkled with radiance. In a trance of love, Jack whispered, "My god, Sally you're beautiful."

Sally grinned and rewarded his comment with another kiss. "I've got to finish picking herbs for my kitchen."

"Wait," Jack sat Sally down. He placed his hands on his head. There was a thick pop as he decapitated himself and gave his head to Sally. "There, now I can spend time with you, while I go work with the monsters on Halloween revisions."

Sally giggled. She loved it when Jack did corny stuff like this. "Sorry love," she reached up and put Jack's head back on, "the last time you let your body go around headless, you got lost in Valentines Town; and who knows what went on there. Besides, you have responsibilities. You're the Pumpkin King!"

Jack pulled Sally close, "And you're my queen."

Sally blushed and gently pushed him away. "I'll see you tonight." She turned, and walked away with flirty steps.

"I LOVE YOU!" Jack cried after her.

Still blushing, Sally spontaneously cried back, "I LOVE YOU, TOO!"

These words left Jack love struck, giving Sally just enough time to skimpier away before she changed her mind. It hurt her just as much as it hurt Jack to depart. But Sally knew when there was work to be done. She skipped on cloud 9 all the way to the hedge stones where her herbs grew. She knelt down before the hedge stone with the Deadly Nightshade epitaph. Sally picked the growth by the handfuls.

"Hello, Sally," spoke a mysterious woman that sounded like she had cruel intentions. Sally froze. She didn't recognize the creature's cold voice. It sounded human, but not humane. Sally began to turn around. "Don't move!" the voice snapped. Sally spun back around to face the hedge stone. The shout was stern and evil. She didn't dare disobey.

"Oh Sally, we go back a looooong way. I've heard what you've been up to. My employer sent me for you. I told him this job would be the most pleasurable thing that has happened to me in a good while. I'm gonna' enjoy this."

Sally whimpered, "Wha…what are you going to do to me?"

Sally was yanked up by her shoulders and spun around to face the stranger; "You've stolen something very dear to me!" Tears flowed from Sally's eyes as she pathetically whimpered. The stranger pulled Sally up to her face where her burning eyes cloud have singed her. The woman lowered her voice to a harsh whisper, "I will get him back!"

Sally tried to scream, but the stranger covered her mouth. A glowing, green portal spiraled out under their feet. The two creatures swiftly fell into the mysterious vortex with only the short sound of Sally's muffled scream.


	4. Chapter 4: Welcome To Halloween Town!

Chapter 4 

Welcome To Halloween Town!

Directly above a newly constructed coffin, a green portal spiraled opened up. 16-year-old Sydney Night came plummeting down out of the portal, into the open casket. She screamed while landing hard inside. The standing lid slammed shut after her.

The fall left Sydney squeezing her eyes shut and clutching the back of her head in pain, "Eh…what…what happened?" Sydney groaned. She began to spread her arms, but instantly they hit the sides of the coffin. Nervously, she began feeling around. Feeling the enclosure of the box turned her drossiness quickly turned into fear, "Hey, what's going on? Let me out! Let me out! Help! Somebody help me!" Sydney threw her weight up against the lid. With a strained voice, she screamed, "For the love of God, please help me! Please! I've been buried alive! I'm not dead! Help!" Sydney pushed with brut strength against the lid. Little did she know that when the lid slammed shut, the outside latch locked itself. Sydney was trapped inside.

Several stories above the ground, in a tall tower with a sphere top, Dr. Finklestein and his assistant Egor devised an "ingenious" plan.

"Egor," commanded Dr. Finklestein, "fetch the tranquilizer liquid! I'll get the dart gun." Dr. Finklestein was looking out the window. He wouldn't break his stare away from the coffin. There were six lined up side by side. If he broke concentration, he would forget which one contained his target, "Egor, hurry it up!"

"Yes, master," Egor replied with a scratchy voice.

Dr. Finklestein was an evil scientist. He created just about everything that revolved around his world. Even the accident years ago that confided him to his wheel chair. His loyal assistant, Egor, was his first living creation. He was a disgusting mess, but his slave nonetheless. Sally the rag doll was his second creation. He had treasured her like he did his handicap. And she knew it. Dr. Finklestein was more than grateful when Sally fell in love with the Pumpkin King and she became his queen. Eventually, she moved away into Jack's tower. The professor never wallowed for the loss of his creation. He knew he could make better. Shortly before she left, Dr. Fickelstein created a wife. They have the same interest, love for science, twisted face, and brain. In the end, everyone was happy. Yes, happiness exists in this world.

Dr. Finklestein moved the chair towards the door with the stirring toggle. On the way out, he grabbed his dart gun. It was crudely made, like the rest of his creations. Egor followed Dr. Finklestein outside to Sydney's coffin.

At this point Sydney had given up calling for help and began preying, "Now I lay me down to sleep. I prey the-"

"We've got you now!" rasped Dr. Finklestein's voice.

Sydney gasped surprised at the horrible voice. Her whispered prayer speed up with her pounding heart, "I prey the Lord my soul to keep. For if I die before I wake-"

"You wont get away this time you ungrateful brat! Egor open the door!" Sydney was constantly repeating her prayer. Her eyes were shut tight with tears of fear streaming down her face. This was the first time she felt true fear in a long time. Suddenly, the coffin lid swung open. Sydney sucked in a sharp breath and her eyes became wide. Dr. Finklestein pushed the tip of his dart gun to her leg and shot her.

"Arrrrgggghhhhh!" Sydney cried out an unearthly cry of pain. The tear flow was heavy now. She applied pressure on the fresh wound on her thigh.

"What!" cried Dr. Finklestein, "Who is this? This isn't Diego. It's a human!"

Just then, the coffin next to Sydney's bust open. Diego leapt out of the coffin, over Dr. Finklestein, Egor, and Sydney, then landed ten feet away. Diego was Dr. Finklestein's latest creation. His skin was tinted green, his hair was wild, red and messy, his clothes were old and raggedy, his body was muscular, his skin was covered in stitches, and he too was a rag doll. He looked like he was 18-years-old.

Diego sneered back at Dr. Finklestein, "Catch me if you can, Dr. FinkleFART!"

Diego dashed off towards the graveyard, and then disappeared from sight. Dr. Finklestein's eyes followed him, "Oh, yeah, real mature," Dr. Finklestein groaned. While he was distracted, Sydney positioned herself for an attack, "That stupid boy; I gave him life! I gave him enhanced abilities! He's the strongest creature to exist! And still, he's as ungrateful as his sister!-" BAM!

Sydney had swung her good leg up and kicked Dr. Fickelstein in the back of the head.

"Ooooohhhhh…" Dr. Finklestein moaned falling foreword out of his chair. The professor was out cold.

"Master!" Egor wobbled over to Dr. Finklestein's aid. Sydney took advantage of this time to escape. She painfully ripped the dart from her blood stained leg. Using her arms and body weight, she swung herself from the coffin onto the ground. She lay there for a moment clawing at the dirt as the pain throbbed through her body. She began to crawl away. Soon enough she caught her balance, limping towards the graveyard.

Egor attempted to chase down Sydney, but he prioritized the professor greater than anything else. Besides, what would he do if he caught her? Egor couldn't hurt a flea. He tried. It just couldn't be done.

Disregarding any plans to avenge Dr. Finklestein, Egor pulled him back into his chair. He stood in front of the professor and shook his shoulders gently, "Master!" Egor pleaded with a horse voice, "Master wake up! Please wake up!"

Dr. Finklestein slowly nodded back into consciousness, "Ahhhh…my head!" He held his humongous head in agony. Egor got behind the wheelchair and began pushing it up to the tower, "Stupid little brats, always disobeying their elders! If I ever catch her, I'm going to hang her in a cage and treat her like a bird! Ha, ha, ha, ha- ohhhhhh…my head!" There were a few minutes of silent walking. Dr. Fickelstein looked as if he were thinking intently about something, "Egor, I don't get it. That dose of tranquilizer fluid should have killed her. I mean, it would have been enough to put Diego to sleep, but even the strongest human would have found it fatal," He looked down and shook his head, "I just don't get it. Maybe I should start strengthening my potions. What do you think could have happened Egor?"

"I don't know. I used the potion you instructed me to use. I'll show you," Egor put his hand into his side pocket. He pulled out the vial that formally held the potion he injected into the darts for the dart gun. He examined it closely.

_Oh, my god_, Egor thought_. I grabbed the wrong vial! This isn't the tranquillizer fluid. It's extract of monkey! Oh, man, I'm so screwed._

"Come on Egor. Let's see that vial," the professor demanded.

Egor shoved the vial back into his pocket. He spoke nervously, "I-I-I must have dropped the vial back at the coff-coffins. Lets-lets just forget about it. Okay?"


	5. Chapter 5: If You Don't Know Fear

Chapter 5 

If You Don't Know Fear,

Then You Don't Know Jack

Jack walked back to main square like a brain-dead zombie (nobody used that analogy in Halloween Town. Many found it offensive). The whole time he was still hypnotized by the Sally's kiss of love. Once Jack and Sally would depart, it usually took twenty minutes for the butterflies in his stomach to go away. The mayor run up behind Jack and slapped him hard on the back. This instantly broke him of his love trance.

"Jack, we have everything prepared!" reported the mayor's jolly voice.

Jack looked down to the mayor. He was only 1/3 Jack's height and more than five times Jack's width, "Everything prepared for what?" asked Jack.

"The Halloween finale, of course! We agreed to do a rehearsal today. Don't you remember?"

"Yes, but I thought that was scheduled for tomorrow," Jack tapped on the mayor's planner tucked away under the Mayor's arm, "Check your planner."

With a jolly, yet unsure face, the mayor opened his pocket planner of events. He flipped through to the current date. His eyes scanned the page, then his jolly face turned to an expression of worried paranoia. His face literally turned. He flipped the page in his planner to the next day.

"Aaaaaaaaa!" the mayor made a gasping noise and his eyeballs popped out of his head.

"So, when's rehearsal?" Jack teased with a raised brow bone and a big smirk.

"It…it could possibly be tomorrow."

"Alright, lets make a deal," Jack picked the mayor's eyeballs up from the ground and started to juggle them, "We'll do rehearsal today 'as planned' and you'll let me wear these until we're ready," Jack held the eyeballs out towards the mayor.

"Hmmm…okay."

The mayor's face spun back to its jolly expression. He skipped away to organize the other monsters while crashing into every other object he came across. Jack shoved the eyeballs into his eye sockets. He loved it when the mayor let him wear his eyes, especially because he got to watch him "bounce" around town.

Sydney was hidden from view pressed against the graveyard gate. She had supported her weight on the gate as she limped to this very spot. Her Hispanic, yet fair skinned hand brushed back the dark, wavy, shoulder-length hair from her face as she flopped to the ground. She was panting hard from her narrow escape. The pain in her leg was torturing her, but strangely it itched. Sydney dusted the dirt from her black jeans and black tank top. Her clothes and accessories were the "stupid punk style" as her foster parents would call them. They were given to her from the foster parents she'd just abandoned, which never gave her anything out of love. Everything her foster parents ever gave her were bribes to keep her from squealing her life to the orphanage. Long story short, they were bad people. They only took care of her so the orphanage would pay them money. The advantage to that was that she could do whatever she wanted, as long as she was quite.

"I'm probably better off here than with the Cartmens," she muttered to herself. The Cartmens were her foster parents. Well, the ones she was with last anyways. She hated them with every ounce of emotion she had left.

"Hey, where am I? Is that…" Sydney listened closely, "…music?" She also overheard loud singing and a lot of movement, "Are those voices human?" She looked around for a way to spy on the event without being seen. She didn't want to attract any attention from these beings, but her curiosity was screaming to know what the big event was. A warped, neglected, black tree from inside the graveyard caught Sydney's eye.

_I can watch the whole event from up there_, she thought.

Sydney checked to see if the cost was clear.

_Not a soul in sight. Perfect!_

She put her weight on the fence again and began limping toward the tree. It wasn't too far off.

She came to the huge, hinged, gate door that led into the graveyard. Beside the door was a 10ft wall blocking all the commotion.

_Sweet_, Sydney thought. _Once I get in the tree, the wall will block me from view. I feel just like Agent Sydney Brostow! _

Sydney was so excited; she ditched the fence and began hopping toward the gated door. Neither her, nor the musical band of monsters playing on her side of the wall noticed each other as Sydney went by. She threw herself against the gated door, expecting her weight to swing it open with her clinging to it. It wouldn't budge. Aggravated, Sydney began shaking the gate. Her annoyed groans and loud clanking interrupted the blues players. They stopped to glare at her. Sydney soon realized the silence. She slowly turned to face the angry eyes.

"Go through the bars, flesh face!" snapped one of the musicians.

"Sorry," Sydney whispered. She was afraid to anger creature with an attitude like that in this place.

"Here," She threw all her money into the tip hat, $2.

"Thanks kid," The blues players flashed her a reassuring smile, then continued their playing. Sydney took in the music for a moment. The melody of the beautiful sorrow made her nerves calm down a bit. She smiled back.

The gaps in the bars were plenty large enough to for her slim body to pass through. Once inside the graveyard, Sydney stepped with caution. It was too dark to rely entirely on vision. She also got the eerie feeling that someone, or something, was following her. Sydney finally reached the tree. The celebration music was at its loudest here. She began feeling around the tree bark for nukes to climb. The tree was covered with them. By swing her weight up the tree trunk, the climbing had begun. Getting to the top was fairly easy, despite the throbbing pain in her leg, but it was worth it. Her view of the main square had proved that, with the exception of a few branches in her way. The festive acts of the creatures were right in front of her. Their frightfully enchanting singing and special effects filled the black sky. The creatures looked twisted, yet charming. Their world looked dark, yet friendly. And the whole experience frightened Sydney, yet she was excited.

With glittering eyes, Sydney grinned and whispered, "I've finally found my place. I'm home."

She watched every aspect of movement, not daring to blink. She even began rocking her head to the rhythm of the song and humming along.

"**_In this town, don't we love it now? Everyone's waiting for the next surprise_!"**

A dead guy with an axe in his head came into the main square. He was pulling a scarecrow on a wooden horse.

"**_Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back, and scream like a banshee. Make you jump out of your skin! This is Halloween, everyone scream! Won't ya please make way for a very special guy_?"**

The scarecrow snatched a burning torch from a nearby monster. He put the fire in his mouth and his straw body went ablaze.

"Whoa!" Sydney breathed.

The scarecrow looked like an intricate, dancing toothpick on fire.

"**_Our man Jack is king of the pumpkin patch. Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now! This is Halloween, this is Halloween_.-" **

The scarecrow leapt off the horse, and did three summer salts in the air.

"**_Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!_"**

He dived into the blue pool of the fountain. A zombie kid with his eyes sewn shut, and a mummy kid leaned over the fountain and sang:

"**_In this town we call home, everyone hail to the pumpkin song."_ **

Suddenly, everyone in the plaza joined in a chorus of singing **"Lah-lahs"** for several beats. They were chanting and swaying as a stick-like creature emerged from the fountain. He rose slowly, steadily. Thick drops of the blue liquid streamed down from his body. The stick creature began to bask in the cheers of the other monsters. He seemed to really enjoy the attention.

The monsters had finished singing their final notes and were praising each other on a job well done.

"Oh," Sydney groaned. She was bobbing her head around the branches for a good view.

_If only I could see his face_, she thought. _Damn thing's too skinny. He blends in with the branches!_

Low, hungry growling broke Sydney's concentration. She looked down below.

"Shizsit!" She yelped. This was her own private curse word she would say at the orphanage to avoid trouble.

A small pack of decaying wolves had gathered and was lingering at the tree's bottom. Hunger reflected in their red eyes. Drool sparkled on their fangs. They knew Sydney had to come down at some point. They could smell the blood from her wound. Nervously, she rooted herself more securely into her spot. If she fell down there, it would be game over man.

More chanting a rose from the main square, "Jack! Jack! Jack! Jack!"

Sydney's attention turned from the wolves back towards the plaza, "Hmmm…Jack must be that skeleton…thing…that set himself on fire," Sydney guessed, "One things for sure, they're not celebrating his intelligence," She began bobbing her head around the branches again, "I still can't see his face!" Then she froze. Sydney had found the perfect view.

The monsters were still cheering Jack's name, but ceased when Jack put his hands up, a motion for silence. He slowly turned to face Sydney's direction. She finally saw the face that had been such a mystery to her. His twisted smile and evil eyes had flash backs punching Sydney's brain. She put a hand over her chest and started to seriously hyperventilate.

Jack stood tall atop the water fountain. His act was showy, and he seemed satisfied with everyone's reaction. He raised himself higher than the fountain to give a blood curdling laugh, "Ha, ha, ha, ha, haaaaaa!" Then he spoke in a low, evil voice, "Foolish mortals beware! For I am Jack, THE PUMPKIN KING! Prepare for an early grave."

The crowd of monsters went up in an explosion of laughter and chanting Jack's name. It was pure madness.

Sydney's body swayed uneasy in her tree spot. She was feeling faint. She didn't know if the cause was of her nightmare flash backs, the flash back of her traumatizing Christmas, Jack's threat to humans, the poison that was shot up in her leg, or all of the above.

However, the last thing that Sydney could remember before passing out was her thought uttered into a whisper, "Repressed memories are a bitch."

Her muscles finally giving out caused her hands to slip from the branches. Sydney fell unconscious from the tree. She fell from the tree…into the pack of wolves.


	6. Chapter 6: Burden Of Bad News

Chapter 6 

The Burden Of Bad News

"Uhhhhh…" Sydney groaned. Her eyes were lazy with sleep. She tried to move, but couldn't, she was restrained by her spread wrist and ankles, "What! What is this!" The shock of being tied down woke her up completely. Sydney picked up her head and looked at her body, "Aaaaaaa…aaaaa…" she tried to scream at her sight, but she was too mortified to do so. Sydney was caught in a giant spider web! Her eyes darted around the room, demanding an escape route. She noted that the web was centered in the middle of a dark room. With a little straining through the dim lighting, Sydney made out the room to be a gothic living room, though she doubted anything "lived" here. Everything from the furniture to the décor looked twisted and dead.

Approaching footsteps echoed in the hall behind Sydney. She squeezed her eyes shut, afraid of what the mysterious creature may look like or do.

" Hello?" Sydney said. Her voice was thick with fear, "Are you here to help me?" The footsteps stopped. Sydney lowered her voice to an intimidated whisper, "Are you here to…hurt me?" There was still no response.

_Why did I take this job? _Sydney's thoughts whined._ Why, oh good god, why did I take this job! I should have never walked so close to the river. If that damn dog had just-._

The footsteps started again. First they tiptoed slowly, cautiously. Then they sped up. They became a run that sparked a leap out of the creature, throwing him onto the unstable web. Has thrown weight upon it cause the entire structure of the cobweb to wobble in and out. This sudden attack sent Sydney into blaring screams. She never saw the monster with glazed, black eyes and sleek claws crawling towards her, but she knew something dangerous was there. Now the creature was positioned right above her head, but in the springing of the web, all she saw was his raised deadly, sharp hand.

Jack strolled into the room with a tray of drinks, "Diego, I doubt that the human will enjoy this fine blood here, so I brought-Diego, no!" Jack had just saw the screaming girl and Diego's attempt to strike. Not being able to aim good while the web was shaking, he struck the web. The entire cobweb split in half from the top of Sydney's head down. Sydney screamed as she fell towards the floor. Jack throw down his tray of drinks. He got a running start that powered into a slid on his knees that took him underneath Sydney. She fell backwards into his thin arms.

"Diego, what were you thinking?" Jack shouted, "You can't be so rough with humans! They're delicate and frail, especially the human girls," Jack looked down into the eyes of Sydney, her arms slung behind her head. He spoke softly, almost as if she were a child (which she wasn't!), "Are you alright?" She was breathing hard and still a bit shaken, but at least she wasn't screaming anymore. That could have been because she felt a warm sense of comfort coming from Jack. He wasn't the most calming sight in the most, but Sydney was receiving a friendly vibe from him that she could trust. She liked this creature. And had obviously forgotten that he was the object of her nightmares.

"Yes, I think I'll be alright," Sydney responded.

Diego, who was still clinging from the part of the web attached to the ceiling, dropped down to the floor. He walked over to Sydney. His strides were a medium pace of confidence and intimidation. He walked like he wanted his presence to make people nervous. Diego placed his dangerous hand on a bulge on her head. She cringed. After moving away some strands of hair, he pulled the bulge from atop her head. In a clutched fist, Diego brought down what he was holding to Sydney's eye level. It was a small black rat with fangs and a red devil tail.

"You got an infestation problem, Jack," Diego said coolly, "These things have three times as much poison as their size," Diego threw the rat out the open window. He sneered at the distance that it soared, and then went over to pull the rest of the cobweb down.

_Wow_, were Sydney's thoughts. _He hasn't exactly made a good first impression. Him being the cause of this fking shot wound in my leg, but look at this, he's also cocky! With his tough, yet pretty Ewan McGregor voice, and sexy body. He's so ripped; I bet he looks at himself naked in the mirror. Freak, what kind of sane person does that…whore. And look at him easily ripping away the cobweb. He saved my life, but that was probably just an act to get into my-._

"Sorry I scared you."

"Huh?" Sydney was jerked back into reality.

"Sorry I scared you," Diego repeated, "You have to be quiet to catch one of those little suckers. I hope that didn't cause me to leave a bad impression of myself on you. I just figured it would be better to give you flowers after a quick scare then to have to leave them on your grave."

_You see? Total conceded ass! _

"Wait," Sydney interjected, "what is this place?" She looked up at Jack, who was still holding her, "And who are you?"

Jack helped Sydney up, pulled away some of the rebellious cobweb still sticking to her, and then made his dramatic introduction, "Why my dear, this marvelous place is Halloween Town! And I'm JACK, THE PUMPKIN KNIG! Ruler of all that you see! Arrrrrh,ha,ha,ha,haaa!"

_What, you're living room? So you hail power of the Pair 1 reject collection. That's impressive._

Diego commented from across the room, "Yeah, if you don't know fear, then you don't know Jack! Pun intended."

"You may know of my young friend's name over there," Jack said to Sydney. He was pointing out Diego to her, "But I don't believe he's gotten his proper introduction yet. The young man's name is Diego; one of Dr. Finklestein's creations and a good friend of mine. Do you know the doctor?"

"We've crossed paths," Sydney said while rubbing her wound.

Diego blushed and gave a little wave, "Hi."

Jack motioned to Sydney, "And now, what's your name my dear?"

"I'm Night…Sydney Night," she paused. Sydney felt uncomfortable explaining herself. She didn't want to give out too much information that might backfire on her and cause her too give away her purpose here.

_No, they can't know._

"Is that all?" Jack asked, "You can trust us," He touched her shoulder. Sydney slightly shuttered at that instant.

"Sure, but…er…I don't open up to many people. I'm just not used to people caring."

"That's okay. I think you'll open up when you feel comfortable."

"Uh…thanks," Sydney was relieved, and Jack's sensitivity made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Just then she realized something, "Hey, how did I get here? I thought the fall from the tree would have killed me."

"You'd fit in better if it did," Diego said sarcastically.

"Diego!" Jack snapped at him, "Could we please try to have a little more hospitality for our guest?" Jack turned back to Sydney, "What Diego was trying to say was that he rescued you."

"Really? He saved my life twice? But the last thing I remember was…was…"

_What did happen?_

"You went into the graveyard," Diego interrupted, "and climbed into a tree. You were up there for a while watching the Halloween Finale, then you just fainted. You suddenly fell from the tree into a pack of wolves. I caught you before you landed and fought off the wolves. Then I carried you up here to Jack's place. It was the safest place for you I could think of. It's been about two hours since then."

The whole time Diego was speaking, he had been avoiding Sydney's eyes, pretending to focus on the cobweb he was trying to detach. Him seemed a little shy, like when a boy meets the new girl next door, and instantly falls in love. That is, if that ever really happens. When he finished speaking, he looked up to meet Sydney's eyes. He gave a nervous, yet affectionate smile.

"Thank you, Diego," Sydney smiled back weakly and a little bit forced. Her fear of him was slowly melting away. Now when she thought of him, she thought, "_I could take him."_

"Anything for you, Sydney," Diego's smile was board now as he approached Jack and Sydney.

_Jerk._

Jack leaned in next to Diego. He spoke in a teasing tone, "So, Diego. Were you fallowing Sydney in the graveyard?" A wide grin spread across his face.

"No, I wasn't fallowing her!" Diego lied, "I was looking for Sally," he added truthfully, but he had stopped looking for her when he saw Sydney.

"Yes, where is Sally?" Jack questioned to himself, "I tried to find her before we did the rehearsal."

Suddenly Sydney's eyes became shocked. "Rehearsal" echoed in her mind. She got a flash of the rehearsal in a hazy flashback fog. Sydney had forgotten everything since she fainted, but it was all coming back to her now. She looked up at Jack with fear. He was still talking to Diego about Sally's disappearance. She took a few steps away from him. Her hands were quivering. Her repressed nightmare of Jack came back in strobe-light flashes. Since their first meeting, just moments ago, Sydney had liked Jack. And it takes a lot to gain Sydney's interest of friendship. But now, she was terrified of him.

Jack saw from the corner of his eye socket how Sydney was looking at him. He turned to speak to her, "Sydney, is something wrong?" There was genuine concern showing on his skull and in his voice.

"No. Nothing," Sydney lied in an almost whisper. She slipped her hands into her pockets to keep them from shaking. In one of the pockets, she felt a folded piece of paper.

"Huh?" She pulled out the paper and unfolded it to read. Her face turned paler with every word she read.

_Oh…my…god, _were Sydney's thoughts. _This paper is the soul purpose of my mission. How the Hell could I have forgotten about it! My reward, my precise information was almost lost to my damn stupidity! I must not fail._

"What do you have there, Sydney?" Jack questioned.

"It's for you," Sydney handed the paper to Jack.

Jack was a little surprised by this. He began to read the paper aloud. As Jack read through it, his face grew more and more enraged:

Dear Mr. Jack Skellington,

By the time you have read this letter, I will have already captured your pretty little rag doll. She is safe…for now. If you ever wish to see her again with all her pieces, you will deliver to me my list of demands:

Easter Bunny's egg

Leprechaun's gold

Santa's suit

Turkey's tail feather

Cupid's arrow

The Pumpkin King's heart

Yes Jack, number six involves. You have until midnight of October 30th to meet all of my demands. I will get to you information later about the exchange. And don't try anything sneaky Jack, because I will know.

Your nemeses for eternity,

Oogie Boogie

(PS) Jack did you really think you could get rid of me just by breaking a few seems?

There was a hard, cold silence. Sydney could feel the hate vibes radiating from both Jack and Diego. She had almost no idea what was going on, but she knew better than to ask. A small noise was starting to stir. It sounded like rustling paper. Sydney looked around for the source. It came from Jack. The letter shook in Jack's quaking hands. His mouth tightened. Heated fury filled his eye sockets. Jack threw his head back and unleashed a powerful, infuriated, evil roar! "Rrrrrrrraaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!" The dim lights inside flickered out, and lighting outside exploded behind him, causing his shape to become a black figure of horror.

Jack's outburst terrified Sydney. She toppled backwards onto the floor. She was frightened and tried to crawl away on her back. Diego didn't think anything of Jack's roar, but he finally noticed Sydney cowering. He rushed to her aid. Kneeling next to her, with one arm wrapped around her for comfort, he put a hand over her eyes and whispered in her ears, "Claim down. Its okay," Then he turned his head and yelled at Jack, "Jack! Jack, stop!"

There was instant silence. The lightning stopped and the dim lights flickered back on. Jack froze in his position. He slowly lowered his head to look at Sydney and Diego on the floor a few feet away. Sydney was cowering in Diego's arms. Jack's expression showed that he had just acknowledged a major mistake.

He spoke softly, "Sydney, I'm…I forget that…I'm sorry."

Sydney was hugging Diego tightly with her head buried in his chest, something that she told herself she would never be tricked into doing, but he was the closest thing to security that she could find. Jack bent down and placed a hand on her back.

He spoke softly again, "Sydney? I didn't mean to," Jack felt her body give little jolts, and he could hear her muffled weeping in Diego's chest.

Jack was used to scaring humans, however he didn't know any of them personally. He took an instant liking to Sydney. From the moment he saw her, he felt the vibe that they would form an interesting friendship. He never intended to hurt her, physically or emotionally, despite the fact that she was a mortal.

Jack sighed and went to the door, "Diego, I need to go see Dr. Finklestien. I have to get some supplies for our journey. We only have seven days until we meet Ooggie's deadline. Would you mind staying here and looking after Sydney until I get back?"

Sydney shot up her head to look at Jack.

_Huh? But where are we going?_

Diego looked puzzled, "But where are we going?"

"We're going to save Sally!" Jack turned through the door and then slammed it shut behind him.

Diego and Sydney ran to the balcony to look over the ledge at Jack several stories below. From there, they saw him run maximum speed to Dr. Finklestien's tower. When Jack disappeared from sight, Diego and Sydney just kept gazing out into the night. Sydney's eyes traveled from Jack to all the other glorious sights of the town. Diego's eyes traveled to Sydney.

Diego swallowed hard, "It's a lovely night tonight."

Sydney turned to look at him, moved to the furthest side of the ledge away from Diego, then looked back out at the town, "Yeah, sure it is," Sydney was desperate to change the subject, "Diego, who's Sally?"

"She's my older sister. I guess you could call he "the queen of Halloween". But that's because she's Jack's lover."

"You mean she's Jack's wife?"

"What's a wife?"

"You know, someone a man is married to?"

"What's a married?"

"It's when a man and a woman…well…it's when two people who either love each other very much or want the other person's money and property vow to spend the rest of their lives together through holy matrimony."

"Oh, that's why we don't have married!"

"Why?"

"Because it's holy. Holy things don't exist here."

"How come?"

"I don't know. They just end up going up in flames. It's kind of cool to watch though."

"Well I'd hate to be in Sally's shoes, or whatever. Spending the rest of my after life with that freak, Jack Skellington!"

"Hey," Diego snapped, "if that was supposed to be insulting, don't say it anymore."

"Sorry!" Sydney snapped back.

Diego hesitated. He spoke with a claim tone this time, "Look, Sally and Jack are very happy together. And if you knew Jack, you'd see why. He's actually a terrific guy."

"Sure he is," Sydney replied dully.

Neither she, nor Diego noticed a small hook on fishing wire dangle down from the roof. It slowly lowered itself, and then stopped behind Sydney's waist. It began to make a small swinging motion towards Sydney. Within seconds, it had caught her in the back of her pants. There were noises of quiet bickering coming from the roof. Diego jerked his head up in alert. His pointed ears were twitching, "Sydney, do you hear that? It sounds like-"

"Look, Diego, you seem like a nice guy and all, but I'm into humans. I'd totally make an exception a vampire though, but I just don't see it working with a rag doll. I like your gothic style though."

Diego's eyes grow wide, "Sydney!" He tried to grab her in his arms, but was too late. Sydney was yanked into the air. Her body was suspended half way between the balcony and the roof. She was slowly being pulled upward.

"Aggghhhhh! Diego, save me!"

Diego leapt up from the balcony onto the tower wall. He began to climb it like he was Spider-Man; pulling himself up by the cracks. When he made it to the top, he used his arms to catapult his body over the wall and onto the roof.

He spoke angrily at his find, not the least bit of breath lost, "I knew it!" Diego pointed at the mysterious trio, "Oogie's cretins: Lock, Shock, and Barrel!"

Lock, Shock, and Barrel were the little trick-or-treaters of Halloween Town. They wore simple costumes, and had mask made of porcelain that looked almost identical to their own faces. The trio was struggling with a fishing pole, the same pole that was dangling Sydney from the roof.

Lock spoke sarcastically, "Well thanks for the introduction, Diego. We know who we are. Now be useful and help us pull this human up!"

"Why are you fishing her? Couldn't you just come through the door?"

The gang hesitated, "Hmmmm…NO!"

"Fine, but what are you three up to?"

Shock snapped, "We don't have to tell you anything!"

"Why, you little-!" Diego made his way towards the three kids.

"Look!" Lock interrupted, and was pointing at the fishing line.

Everyone turned their heads to look at the fishing line, and their jaws dropped. The line was slowly breaking.

"What, what's going on?" Sydney questioned. She looked up to the break in the line, "Oh, no. Oh…no!" Her eyes were pathetic and scared. They began to water. See looked to Diego, and whispered a desperate plea, "Please…help me."

Diego's fear could only allow him to mouth out his answer, "I can't."

The line snapped.


	7. Chapter 7: The Issue Of Trust

Chapter 7

THE ISSUE OF TRUST

BANG! BANG! BANG! "Dr. Finklestein! Open the door!" Jack yelled at Dr. Finklestein's door, "Open up! It's an emergency!"

Jack pounded the door a few more times. When there was no response, he pressed the side of his skull against it. He listened intently for any indication of occupancy.

Dr. Finklestein's voice yelled from inside, "Edna! Edna, get the door!"

Jack stepped back when he saw the doorknob jiggle. The door opened to revel Edna, Dr. Finklestein's homemade life partner.

She studied Jack for a second, and then turned to yell up stairs at the professor, "Honey! That nice skeleton boy is here to see you!" Edna had an annoying, loud voice. No body liked the sound of it except for Dr. Finklestein.

Jack muttered to her, "Edna, you know very well that I'm older than you."

Edna calling Jack a boy was somewhere on the top of his pet peeves list.

"Jack? Is that you Jack Skellington?" yelled Dr. Finklestein.

"Yes," Jack yelled back. He brushed past Edna and sprinted up the tall staircase, "And we have a bit of a situation," Jack made it to the top of the staircase. He looked down the hall at the surprising amount of rooms, "Professor, where are you?"

"I'm down the hall! Come into my laboratory!"

Jack jogged down the hall and through the open door. He abruptly stopped in the laboratory, and then threw the lab door closed behind him. He leaned against it out of breath. He was winded by the shock of losing Sally still circulating in his head.

Dr. Finklestein looked up from his work, "Jack, what's the matter?"

Jack was still trying to catch his breath, "Professor…we…have…a…problem."

"Come down son. Catch your breath."

"Okay…I'm good now, but enough about me. Sally has been…" Jack's sentence was cut short by the sight of an ice bag strapped to the back of Dr. Finklestein's head, "Professor, what happened to you?"

"Humph! A stupid, punk, girl-a human girl- kicked me in the back of the head! That low life attacked me from behind! Can you believe the nerve? Once I regained consciousness, I said to myself, 'Oh, that girl is going to get it! Just wait until I send my son-in-law after her! Then we'll see who's in pain! We'll see!' Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, haaaaaa!"

Jack made the wise assumption that Dr. Finklestein was talking about Sydney. He gave a nervous laugh, then cleared his throat, "Ahem, we have a bigger problem than that."

"Sure, everything's more important than poor Dr. Finklestein," the professor whined while rubbing his injury.

"Sally's been kidnapped," Jack spoke frankly.

"What!" Dr. Finklestein nearly rolled out of his chair, "Who did it? Where is she? Jack…Jack?"

Dr. Finklestein was talking to Jack, but Jack was ignoring him. He was looking off into space, listening intently,

"Professor, open the window."

"Why?"

"I have a bad feeling."

"Ah! Your skeleton senses must be tingling," Dr. Finklestein joked. Jack's face was serious and he wanted the professor to hurry it up, "Ha, ha, ha, ha…oh, whatever! It would have been funnier if you laughed."

"Whatever makes you open the window, Professor."

Dr. Finklestein stirred his chair to window and pushed open the old shutters. Jack walked to it and stuck his head outside. Far off into the distance, Jack saw Sydney dangling by a thread from his roof.

"Sydney!" Jack yelled. She couldn't hear him, not that it mattered, "Sydney! Hold on, I'm coming!" Jack turned to Dr. Finklestein, and he spoke demandingly, "Professor, do you remember those new gadgets you showed me last week?"

"That girl outside…hmmm…she's the one that attacked me!"

"Focus, Professor."

"Oh yes, the gadgets! I believe I have them in a storage cabinet somewhere, but didn't get a chance to test them."

"You don't have time now! Put the gadgets in a bag and set me up. We need to hurry! By the way, do you still have those old party costumes of yours?"

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

The fishing line that had Sydney suspended several stories in the air had snapped. She plummeted down, kicking and screaming, "Agggggggggggghhhhhhh!"

Three feet before Sydney was to be slammed against the cobble stone road, a demon child grabbed her up under the arms and flew away with her. Sydney was relieved to still be three-dimensional, but her fear hadn't left her yet. She looked up to see this beast. He was a rough; gray skinned creature that had a tiny body, huge head, and larger wings.

Sydney gave a cry of disgust, "Gross!"

The creature pulled his eyes away from the sky to look at her. He flashed Sydney a smart-alecky smile, filled with razor teeth. In his juvenile voice, he replied, "Thank you."

Then, the demon pulled Sydney back a bit to see below them. They two were now well over Jack's roof.

"Brace yourself," he said to Sydney.

"What!" her eyes grew wide.

Suddenly the demon let Sydney slip through his tiny arms until he got from under her armpits to hold on both of her hands. Then, the evil little demon swung Sydney around fiercely in a circle, like she was Raggedy Anne. He swung her around until he lost his grip on both her hands and Sydney was flung into the air. He yelled out to her, "Look out below!"

"Aggggggghhhhhhh-umf!" Sydney's screech was cut off by her pained grunt. She had landed straddled on the back of a witch's broomstick that had flown by.

"I got you my pretty!" the witch remarked to Sydney in her scratchy voice. While speeding through the air, Sydney clenched the straws of the broom to stay on. Recklessly the witch turned in her seat to examine Sydney. She had her fingers to her long chin, and her eyes squinted at Sydney in examination.

_How can she be so careless! We must be going like 80 mph! She's not even looking at where we're going! Hey freak, stop looking at me and watch the road!_

The witch had a horrible wart-covered face, and a humongous nose. You could probably put two of each animal on that nose, and sail them through a flood.

"Hmmmmm…you are a pretty one," the witch began.

_Does everything have to come on to me in this world?_

"Your noise," the witch continued, "is the cutest. But it'll look even cuter on me. I'll put it right next to the one I already have," the witch reached for Sydney's face, grinning an ugly smile of excitement.

"Sick! Sick! Sick!" Sydney cried. She leaned back to avoid the witch's hand, but ended up doing a back flip off the broom into a flat roof, directly below them. Sydney fell about ten feet before landing on her own two feet.

"Shizsit! I've never been able to do anything like that before!" Sydney looked down to examine herself, "I don't recall my muscles ever being this buff," She bent over and squeezed her larger, more firm thighs and calves. Sydney had new feminine sized muscles, "I like this! This is way better than being the flimsy twig I was. But how did this happen?"

While Sydney pondered the origins of her new muscles, a long, stealthy hand from below crept up the roof ledge. It wrapped its snake-like fingers around her ankle, and then with a single yank, pulled Sydney off the roof.

"Whoa!" Sydney cried out surprised. She was now dangling again, this time upside down by her ankle, as a monster with spiders in his hair, held her from his window.

"Hey! I got a human by the foot without even hiding under her stairs!"

"Proud of that? Well nice try, but you should have got the other foot too!"

Sydney swung her free leg upside the monster's head. At this point, Sydney wasn't scared anymore, just annoyed. Nobody here accepted her! Why? She accepted them. Sydney was starting to feel like maybe hadn't really left Earth at all.

_Guess I'm on my own_, thought Sydney. _It's just no different from my world._

The monster reared his head back, roaring in pain from Sydney's kick. Sydney grabbed the windowsill next to her head, just as the monster released her of his grip. Her body swung towards the wall. She stopped herself from slamming into it by putting her feet against it. Then she pushed off the wall with her legs, flipped backwards, and landed sturdy on her feet again. She was now in the middle of the plaza.

_Dude, this is getting weird,_ she thought. _But I like it! Hey, the pain in my leg is gone. The poison must have worn off. _Sydney shifted her weight on her feet. _Something feels a little funny though._ She took off her pink and black vans to inspect her feet.

"Oh…my…god…AGGGGHHHHHH!" Sydney cried, "These aren't my feet! These are hands! Long, smelly hands! They kind of look like monkey fe-"

"There she is!" Sydney's train of thought was cut off. She looked up to see an excited mob of creatures rampaging toward her. Each had an evil sneer of joy. They all wanted to have their fun with the only human in town, "Get her!"

This didn't surprise Sydney, "…damn it."

Sydney dropped her shoes, turned her heels, and ran for toward the fountain. The mob was gaining on her, but Sydney was finding it a lot easier to run now with her new feet. Configuring the distance from where she was to the point of the statue on the fountain, Sydney thought she could test out her new acrobatic powers.

_Here goes nothing_.

Using her new strength, Sydney took one 6-billion-dollar-leap into the air, her legs doing bicycle kicks as she soared. She stayed suspended for several seconds before landing on her feet precisely atop of the statue's curved back.

The statue under Sydney's feet immediately stopped regurgitating water and spoke to her, "Wow, I can't believe you just made that jump! You're an impressive little human."

"Hey, what the-? Oh, now the fountain's talking to me. Are you out to kill me too?"

The mob had caught up and was slowly crowding in around the fountain. Evil satisfaction of victory was vibrant on their hideous faces. They made sure their pace wasn't too fast just to be able to bask in the helpless mortal's fear of death.

The fountain spoke to her again, "Well, as often as I have people hanging off my necks, it may surprise you that I don't very much like it."

Sydney was becoming irritated with what little help she was getting from the fountain, "Just, what are you implying?"

"Oh, nothing you'd care about. But I do believe that this is where we must say good-bye."

"What? What are you going to do?" Sydney was getting nervous.

"After all, we need to make you one of us."

_Oh, my god! They're going to make me into a monster!_ Sydney suddenly got an image of herself being mutilated and tortured until she looked like…Michael Jackson. And this time, there wouldn't be a Thriller dance.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sydney released a blood-curtailing scream. All of the monsters stopped where they were, just basking in one of their lives many pleasures.

"Statue thing," Sydney pleaded, "please help me! I beg of you!"

"Hmmm…why should I?"

"Because, underneath your cold, cement body, there exist a heart. You deny its there. And you can't ignore its call to save an innocent."

"Wow…I haven't heard something full of that much crap since one of the jazz players played his bass constipated."

"Hey!" The jazz player cried form the crowd.

"Sorry kid," the fountain went on, "But I'm gonna need a better reason."

_What the Hell!_

"Fine, save me you gay fountain, or I'll pee in your pure water!"

"You'll what!"

"That's right, I'll be a fountain too!"

Sydney's subconscious was shocked. _You'll what! You are SO bluffing, aren't you! If that's not an empty threat, than I'm going to give you menstrual cramps from Hell every month! I mean it!_

Sydney whispered to herself, "Jesse, my mind is a bitch."

The fountain looked up at the sky, "Hey, I just put together a plan! Don't ask questions, but I think I understand what to do. Put one arm straight up in the air and count down from five."

Sydney raised an eyebrow to the fountain, but when she looked at the mob of monsters, she saw that she was all out of options.

Sydney obeyed and counted down, "Five…four…"

Suddenly all the monsters slowly drew back. They looked above Sydney's head with gasping expressions.

"…three-eee!" Sydney was gone. A flying object speeding by, pulling her off the ground and sending her with her rescuer into the sky had grabbed her hand. Sydney was dangling several stories in the sky once again. This time by…Jack! Yes, Jack. Jack had been set up with a flying skeletal to come to save Sydney. Once he slowed down his pace, he slung her onto the back of his reindeer. Sydney clung tightly to Jack's back. She was too distracted by the fear of falling into the mob, than to be afraid of Jack at the moment.

Jack's face was filled with excitement, "Yeeeeeha! Sorry I was late, I got sidetracked talking to Diego. Boy, things sure have gotten lively since you arrived!"

"Pun intended, I'm sure," Sydney said, still a little shaken, "Where are you taking me?"

"We're going on a quest to save Sally! We'll meet up with Diego once he gets the Halloween Town residents settled down over their excitement. I just hope it doesn't take too long for him to find us. But for now, it's just you and me. The nightmare chronicles of Jack and Sydney!"

Sydney gasped and her hold around Jack loosened. Images of Jack terrorizing her flashed through her head. He noticed Sydney's reaction. He was a little offended by it. Jack placed a large hand over her hold on him. His touch felt like rough plastic.

Jack spoke to Sydney with reassurance, "I know I scare you Sydney. Sometimes I even scare myself. I'm not that hot to look at. And I know humans fear me. But the point is I can't help it. I can't change who I am. In fact, I like who I am," Jack paused for a moment to consider his words, "I can't change, Sydney, but I'll make a deal with you. If you respect me and give me a chance, I'll promise to never hurt you and to always protect you. No matter what I do, my actions will never have bad intentions toward you, never," Jack didn't get a reply from Sydney. Jack gently squeezed her hold, "Please Sydney! You can trust me. I trust you."

Sydney was gazing down below. The view of the mob was growing smaller and fading into the distance. Jack flew them over a forest of skinny trees. He stopped the reindeer so that they would hover, "Well, Sydney…are you coming or going…going with me?"

Sydney thought for a minute, "You know you need me to communicate with Oogie Boogie, right?"

"I figured as much."

Sydney thought some more, "And you're okay that Oogie Boogie gave the list to me to give to you?"

"Hey, shooting the messenger won't solve my problems."

"And you don't even care how I got here?"

"I'm curious, but you'll tell me if you feel like it."

_Wow_, Sydney thought. _He really does trust me. And he did save my life, but who hasn't done that today? Maybe I miss interpreted my dream of Jack. Maybe its not a warning of him, but means something else. What then? What does it mean?_

"Alright Jack," Sydney said, "I'll go with you. We'll both save Sally."

"I hoped you would."

Jack tapped the reindeer in the sides with the back of his heel. The reindeer galloped through the air once again, over the woods.

"Sydney, do you trust me?"

There was a brief silence, "We'll see."

_I guess I was wrong about this place, _whispered Sydney's thoughts. _There's at least one person that accepts me._

Sydney held Jack tighter as they galloped on the air. She leaned into his slim back.

_I need to stay awake. I must be alert. I don't trust you Jack and I probably never will._

Sydney fell asleep.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

On the ground, the mob of monsters, though disappointed, began to scatter back to their lives. Once the crowd had cleared out, the base player of the jazz band stood alone looking at his feet. In a nonchalant fashion, he walked up next to the fountain.

"Hey Mike," the jazz player said to him.

"Yeah Russ?" the fountain replied.

"That whole comment that the mortal said to you…you know…about being gay? You don't…you don't think she knows anything, do you?-"

"Russ, calm down. We're fine. There's no way she could have known."

"Are you sure? Cause if my band found out-"

"Russ, no one knows about us. I promise."

"Okay! Okay! I understand…so…you doing anything tonight?"


	8. Chapter 8: Preparation

CHAPTER 8  
PREPARATION

"Sydney, where have you been? Do you know what time it is? And do you have any- wait, what's that? Sydney, is that…a diamond? Where did you get a DIAMOND RING? You stole it! I bet you did. Where else could you have gotten it? Certainly not from a boy, you ugly little thing! You have a face only a mother could love, too bad for you. Michael! Hey, Michael! Come see what the stupid brat stole! The little retard is a thief! Well, I say, I'll teach you a lesson. Give me that ring!"

"No! No! Give it back! It's mine!" Sydney muttered in her sleep. Her mind was replaying the fight with her foster mother, Brittany Cartmen; the very fight that happened moments before she her disappearance, "No, no! It's mine!"

Sydney was tossing and turning on the ground where she lay. Jack gently shook her shoulders, "Sydney, Sydney! You're having a nightmare. Wake up!"

She started turning more violently. Sydney was screaming now, "No! No, you bitch! Get out of my life! Let me go! LET ME GOOOOO!" Sydney was clawing for Jack's face.

He put a hand on her head. His face became stern as he focused. The tiny gap between his palm and Sydney's head glowed a blood red. In a thick, monstrous voice, Jack commanded, "EMPTY!"

Sydney's body gave a final jerk, and the red glow under Jack's palm faded. Sydney's body lay motionless on the ground. Jack spoke again, "Sydney, it's okay now. Wake up."

Suddenly Sydney's eyes blinked rapidly. Her vision was a little blurry, "Ahhhhh…what happened?"

"I got rid of your nightmares. I thought you might appreciate that."

"I do appreciate it, believe me! But…what's that you say about taking away my nightmares?"

"I can take away and put nightmares in peoples heads. It's just one of the many benefits of being the Pumpkin King."

"You didn't happen to put that nightmare in my head, did you?"

"No, I wouldn't dare do a thing like that to you. Nightmares are the worst things you could ever inflict upon someone. It can even be worse than physical pain. I wouldn't ever give anyone a nightmare, unless I really didn't like them, or I was bored. Besides that, what was your nightmare about?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

_I never want to talk about the Cartmens! I hope they burn in Hell._

"Alright," Jack rose up to his feet, " Get up, I want to show you something before we leave."

Jack pulled Sydney to her feet. He left Sydney in her spot and advanced over to the skeletal reindeer. Sydney looked around her. She was standing in the bull's eye middle of a circle of trees. There were five trees with a symbol of a different holiday on each one (the Halloween door wasn't there because they were still in Halloween Town).

"Hmmmmm…Jack, what are these?"

"They're doorways to different holiday worlds," Jack replied while rummaging through the reindeer's saddlebag.

"You mean there's more holiday worlds than just Halloween Town?"

"Oh, yes! In fact, I've been to Christmas Town, and Valentines Town when I literally lost my head."

"Have you been to other any other holidays?"

"I would love to, but no. After the incident of '93, the head figures of the other holiday worlds got together and decided to out law all foreigners from entering their worlds. They didn't want anyone to barge in and ruin their way of life. And they did this without my consent! They had this big life-altering meeting with out me, the head figure of Halloween! Even more so, any town resident, besides Halloween Town, has the permission to kill me on sight! That is if you can kill the dead. But they can only do this if I'm found in their holiday world. Who would have thought that those cute creatures could be a pain in the-!"

"Jack, what happened in '93 that caused everyone to hate you?"

"Well…it was a past mistake of mine I'd rather not discuss."

"But what happened?"

"Hey, you have your secrets and I have mine. Lets just forget I ever said anything about it. Now, come here Sydney, I have something to show you."

Jack motioned for Sydney to join him. Sydney was very suspicious of why he wanted to change the subject, but just erased it from her mind.

Then a thought a rose in her head, _Incident of '93. Did he mean 1993? Could that have anything to do with-no. No, I'm just paranoid. Wait! _Sydney stopped walking. _Is this what Oogie Boogie meant by secret-?_

"Sydney?" Jack called to her.

Sydney shook herself out of her trance. She decided that her theories weren't worth thinking out now, but at a slower time. Sydney crossed over to Jack where he was now emptying the reindeer's saddlebags. He was depositing the contents on the ground, creating a small pile of odd costumes. Once the saddle bags were emptied, Jack knelt down and went through the pile, tossing clothing every which way.

"Jack, what are you doing?"

"No. No. Not right," Jack mumbled to himself, "No…these costumes are all disguises I'm barrowing from the professor. They should help us get around the holiday worlds unnoticed…ah ha! I've found them!" He held out a costume in each hand. The costumes were a white rabbit and a pink duck. Jack tossed the fluffy pink duck costume to Sydney. She held it out in front of her in disgust.

"Jack, please tell me you want me to throw up on this, because that's exactly what I'm about to do."

"Oh, Sydney, you don't need to lose weight," Jack opened the costume a little, "See? It a one size fits all thing."

Sydney glared at him for his smart-ass remark, "You can't be serious! I mean, look at this thing! It's pink! It's fluffy! It's…it's…it's preppy! I will NOT put this on! You hear me Jack?"

"You wanna' bet?" Jack retorted from a few feet away. He was just pulling up the zipper on his bunny costume that he was now wearing. He had the ear hood on and everything. It was also a little baggy on him, but he still looked like a rail. Jack felt around on the ground for his plastic bunny mask. Once recovered, he placed it on his face. The rabbit ears on his head swayed when he moved, "Well, how do I look?" He did a bunny pose for Sydney, and then turned around to shake his bunny tail.

Sydney's eye twitched and her mouth curled to a disgusted frown. She spoke in a sarcastic tone, "Oh Jack, that's so sexy. Kind of like how I'm trying to kill myself by chocking on my tongue."

"Ask around back in my town. Trust me, it can't be done. Now put on your costume."

Sydney made a sad puppy dog face and whined, "Jack, do I have to?"  
"Well…I guess you could wait until right before we go."

"Where are we going?"

"Easter Town. We need these disguises to get in, seeing as how we're banded from it and all," Jack went over to the pile of clothes and rummaged through them some more, "But before we go, we're going to need some protection."

Sydney had an idea. _Protection, you say? Oh boy, I can have some fun with this!_

"Uhhhhhh, Jack, protection from what?"

"They're for Oogie's ghouls. These guys are tricky to penetrate, but it'll be easier if we can get them alone. Maybe even if we do the same one."

"Well, no condoms for me! But you can sex up as many goons as you like! I wont tell Sally."

Jack looked up at Sydney. His jaw dropped and his eyes sockets were shocked. Jack dropped all the trinkets and gadgets of weaponry that he got from the pile, and had been holding in his arms.

"Oh," Sydney badly pretended like she was surprised, "That kind of protection."

Jack began to stutter, "Wha-wha-yes! Sydney-what the Hell were you thinking!" Jack was blushing bright behind his mask. He was more embarrassed than shocked by what Sydney said.

Sydney laughed, and then said to Jack, "Forget it, Jack. I just wanted to watch you squirm. Please, explain these gadgets of 'protection' to me," Sydney picked up a vial of thick, red liquid and read the label, "Bull, Red. What's this?"

"It's none of your concern," Jack snapped and snatched the vial from Sydney. He was still a little upset form Sydney's joke, "Besides, that's for Diego. It's best not to waste it."

Jack shuffled through the pile of weapons that he dropped. He recovered a silver rod, which he placed in Sydney's hands. It had the size and weight of a hammer, with the purest gloss of silver. Sydney held it in the middle.

"For something so simple…it's beautiful," Sydney said in awe.

"You're impressed now, but you haven't seen anything yet! Try giving it a flick of the wrist."

Sydney held out the rod like a firecracker wand; arm fully extended out at her side with the ends of the rod pointing in front of her and behind her. She flicked her wrist.

"Jack," Sydney said a little disappointed, "nothing happened."

"Try it again," replied Jack, "This time, think of a tool."

Sydney focused on an object in her mind and flicked her wrist again. There was a cartoony-pop noise, and then silver rod turned into a silver screwdriver.

Sydney dropped the screwdriver in surprise, "Whoa! What the crap?" The moment the screwdriver left her hand, it turned back into a rod. Sydney stared at it resting on the ground before her. She asked Jack in a monotone voice, "Jack…what was that?"

"That is your protection, Sydney."

"You mean, my weapon?"

"Well, hopefully you don't plan on sexing up Oogie's goons as well."

"Oh, ha ha," Sydney said sarcastically, "But really, why do I need it?"

"Because," Jack began, "some monsters may not look as scary as me, but they are truly more evil. You can't be too careful who you're up against."

"So, what would happen if I were to…kill one? Would they become ghost in Halloween Town?"

"No, far worse! If you killed someone in the holiday world, you destroy their soul. Without your soul, you're nothing. That's why I gave you a weapon, to defend yourself. Because even you can have your soul vanquished. Be very careful with it Sydney."

"Okay."

Sydney picked up the rod again. She began flicking the rod into different objects. She was very amused.

"Jack, what's your weapon?"

He had his back to Sydney. From behind, it looked to Sydney like he was a adjusting something on his wrist. Jack spun around when Sydney asked him the question and held his right arm out in front of her.

"Ta-da!" Jack exclaimed excited.

He wore a bracelet that was wide in diameter, and spiraled 6 inches up his arm from his wrist. The bracelet looked like a spring-shaped tube with glowing, green gel flowing around inside.

"What does it do?" Sydney asked.

"I was hoping you'd ask," Jack said with a grin.

Jack thrust his wrist wearing the bracelet in the direction of Sydney's duck mask that laid 10 feet away. The spiral bracelet uncoiled itself to stretch toward the mask. When the tip of the bracelet touched its target, it instantly retracted back to Jack's wrist, carrying with it the mask. The bracelet, automatically upon return, wound itself back onto Jack's wrist. Jack handed the duck mask to Sydney.

"Wow! Jack, that was awesome! That bracelet is like a sticky-hand!"

"A what?"

"A sticky-hand. In my world, those are little toys that stupid people pay $0.50 to get out of a quarter machine. They don't last longer than five minutes."

"Hmmmm…" Jack examined Sydney, "Does it look anything like the one sticking out of your pocket?"

Sydney looked at her pants pocket. A green sticky-hands was dangling out.

"Uh…yes, that would be what one would look like, that is, if it were really there!"

Sydney yanked out the sticky-hand, then through it behind her.

"Whatever Sydney, we need to get a move on. Oh, and I almost forgot!" Jack picked up Sydney's disregarded costume. He held it out to her with a devious grin, "Better suit up. No excuses."

"Fine," Sydney snatched the costume from Jack, "I'll wear Barney's business suite," Jack was satisfied, and left to repack the scattered costumes. Sydney muttered under her breath, "Bastard."

"I heard that!" said Jack still walking away.

"Damn it!" Sydney muttered.

Sydney reluctantly put on the duck costume, while Jack packed the costumes away and tied down the skeletal reindeer. Once their task was complete, they met in front of the Easter door.

"Well Jack," Sydney asked, "are you ready?"

"Hmmmm…" Jack replied, "…let me think," Jack looked up with his hand on his chin, pretending to think and going, "hmmmmm…" He did this for several more seconds, then suddenly he cried, "Are you kidding me? I've been waiting for years to do this again!"

Jack threw open the Easter Egg-shaped door. A burst of whirling, enchanted wind almost knocked them back. Jack grabbed one of Sydney's duck wings, "Hold on!" And Jack and Sydney were both sucked in the doorway at once. Sydney was screaming like a lunatic the whole way down, but Jack was laughing and cheering excitedly. They swirled down the whirlwind of the sparkly, green portal, all the way until they were in Easter Town.


	9. Chapter 9: The Spies

CHAPTER 9

The Spies

Jack grabbed Sydney by the wing, and they were both sucked into the Easter World at once. The egg shaped door closed behind them automatically. Amongst the circle of trees, things were quiet…too quiet. From behind the Thanksgiving Tree, three little hooligans rushed out to the center of the circle.

"Can you believe how easy that was!" cried Shock, "We've been risking our butts for eleven years trying to get all that stuff on Jack's scavenger list, and haven't even come close. This whole time, all we had to do was kidnap the Sally, and Jack would jump through hoops of fire for us! By the way, who did Oogie Boogie send to kidnap the rag doll?"

"I don't know," Lock answered, "Some independent agent. But back to Jack, he's so stupid! He didn't even question what the items on the list are for."

"Well just for the record, I don't think Sydney is stupid," said Barrel, "I mean, she knows what she is doing, and she hasn't messed up yet. We should give her credit for that."

"Barrel, what's with you!" scolded Lock, "You don't actually like this human, do you?"

"But…" Barrel tired to defend her, "she's one of us-"

"We're not human!"

"That's not what I meant! She's one of us and we should like her."

"Well Barrel, you're on of us, and we don't like you!"

"You wanna start somethin', Lock?"

"BRING IT ON, BITCH!"

Barrel jumped at Lock, bringing them both to the ground. The two were whacking each other with their masks as they rolled around.

"STOP!" demanded Shock. Barrel and Lock froze. Lock had a chock hold on Barrel, and Barrel's fist lodged in Lock's right eye, "Break it up you two! Oogie Boogie said we have to work together, meaning you do everything thing that I say. Now break it up!"

Barrel and Lock moved a foot away from each other and said, "Yes sir."

"Now Barrel, since you like the human so much, you can report her progress to Oogie Boogie."

"What? No! Please! No! I still have a bruise from before!"

"Barrel, you know we can only talk with Oogie Bogie through our dreams," Lock teased.

"But I went last time!" Barrel protested.

Shock took her mask off and knocked Barrel over the head from behind. Barrel's eyes rolled back, and then he fell out cold.

"And you'll go again," Shock said standing over Barrel, "He, he, he, he, heeeeeee! Come on Lock."

"Where are we going?" Lock asked.

"We're fallowing team Bozo's trail so we can spy on them. Oogie Boogie wants an up-to-date report as often as possible."

"Sounds boring."

"Just because we have a job, doesn't mean we can't have any fun!"

Shock and Lock giggled at the thought of tormenting Jack and Sydney at every possible moment. Lock and Shock would make sure that those two completed their mission, while at the same time keeping themselves entertained.

"Come on, let's catch up to them!" Lock said.

He and Shock picked up Barrel under the arms and dragged him to the Easter Town Tree. Shock flung open the egg-shaped door and the three were sucked inside.


	10. Chapter 10: Sydney's Head Start

CHAPTER 10

Sydney's Head start

Jack was sitting down, reclining against something. The last thing he remembered seeing was a flash of white light as he reached the end of the green whirlwind. In his white bunny costume, Jack was sitting atop a green, grassy hill overlooking a small village. The village contained mushroom huts, vegetable cars, cobble stone roads, pastel colors, animal noises, and woodland creature residents. The place greatly resembled a Smurf village.

"Yep," said Jack, "from the amount of woodland creatures, I'd say that we're in Easter Town. Wouldn't you agree Sydney…Sydney?"

Jack looked around for Sydney from his spot; he'd just noticed that she wasn't around. From Jack's point of view, all he saw were the stems of sunflowers that were the size of elm trees.

Jack got up and leaned against the closest stem to him, "Where could that girl be? She couldn't have fallen that far away from me. We went through the portal at the same time. Hmmmmm…."

"Jack! Jack!" Sydney's voice was faint as she called to him, "Where are you?"

"Sydney? Sydney!" Jack yelled, "I can hear you, but only barely! Give me a sign of where you are!"

Suddenly, there was a soft plop next to Jack on the grass. He bent down to examine the spot.

_This is Sydney's silver rod. _Jack thought as he picked up the fallen object. _It fell directly from above. That must mean she's…_

Jack looked up. He could see underneath the blossomed bud of the sunflower that he was standing next to, and the giant yellow petals that bloomed from it. Peeking out between two petals was Sydney's little, pink duck head.

"Jack, cut me down!" Sydney cried faintly, "Hurry! I'm nervous!"

"Don't worry Sid," Jack replied confidently, "I'll save you!"

Jack took the rod into his left hand and flicked it into a silver axe, "Here goes," Jack pulled back the axe. With a twist of his tiny torso, he released it with great force against the flower, several times over. **CHOP! CHOP! CHOP!** The stem was cut through to a thin layer. Jack put his foot against the stem and gave it a good push. The flower began to topple over, "TIMMMMBEEEEEERRR!" It slammed to the ground; with such force, that the flower head broke off. Sydney clung tightly to the petals as she went sledding down the hill on the sunflower bud.

Jack watched dumb-struck as Sydney went screaming the entire way down, "JAAAAAAAAAA…"

"Oops," Jack said to himself and feeling a little bad, "That was not supposed to happen."

Jack tossed the axe in the air for a moment, the axe turned back into a rod, and then Jack grabbed it up before it ever had a chance of dropping. Finally, he ran down the hill after Sydney, unaware of the peering eyes behind him. A few flowers away, Lock, Shock, and unconscious Barrel saw the whole thing, well…Barrel didn't.

"Lock, wake him up!" Shock urged, "We're never going to be able to catch up with them if this drags on!"

"I'm trying!" Lock was continually slapping Barrel's face, trying to get him to wake, "Here, see! He's coming back."

Lock and Shock looked over Barrel vigorously. He was slowly waking up.

"Well?" They questioned Barrel in unison, "What's the news?"

Barrel looked up at them with a blank look at first, but then a Grinch-like sneer spread it's way across his face, "I reported their progress, and their plans for the list. Oogie Bogie said that at this rate, not even the Angel of Darkness will be able to stop his master plan!"


	11. Chapter 11: Who's Ashliee Simpson?

CHAPTER 11

Who's Ashliee Simpson?

Sydney was sledding down the hill with gaining speed. She screamed Jack's name at the top of her lungs to save her, until she slid straight into Easter Town. She eased in between two mushroom huts. Despite the creature's mad rush to get out of her way, she luckily had avoided hurting anything or anyone. Sydney's parking had her stopped right in the middle of town square. Once the town residents had calmed down from the excitement, they stared at her with wife eyes of sympathy and sorrow. Sydney's expression was terrorized from her wild ride, but to the woodland creatures she was a happy, pink duck with a glossy face…a happy duck that was about to die.

Amongst the crowd of statue-stiff animals, a single creature was shoving his way toward Sydney, "Move it! Out of my way! Do you know who I am? Move your fat ass!" the last comment sent a cubby donkey running out of the crowd crying.

The rude, shoving animal finally made his way to Sydney. He was a cute little skunk about half of Sydney's height (2 ½ feet), and he had a booming voice like the Mayor from Halloween Town.

"Hello there!" the skunk greeted her, "Allow me to be the first to welcome you to Easter Town! The best of all the towns! My name is Mr. Skeeter. I'm the personal assistant/best friend to Mayor Peter J. Cottontail, his newly appointed representative, and now your self-appointed welcoming committee. Congratulations, me!" Mr. Skeeter congratulated himself on his new position, "And may I ask of your name, miss?" Mr. Skeeter asked Sydney, "I do assume that you're a female."

Sydney began, "I'm…uh…I'm…"

"Come on now, its not that hard."

_Damn._ Sydney thought. _I need an alias, fast!_

"I'm…Ashliee. Yeah. Ashliee."

"Do you have a last name, Ashliee?" Mr. Skeeter asked her.

_Come on, something extra! Maybe I can refer to Danny Elfman for this one._

"…Simpson," Sydney added, "I'm Ashliee Simpson."

Mr. Skeeter gave her a weird look, "Okay…that ride must have done more to your head than it looks now, Ms. Simpson. And might I say, you sure look chipper after such an experience."

_He must be referring to my mask._

"Mr. Skeeter," Sydney began, "a little birdie told me that Easter Town wouldn't be very welcoming to foreigners. So, why are you being so welcoming to me?"

Skeeter suddenly looked furious and began shooting accusing glances at random birds, "Okay, who said this! Who tried to warn-I mean-intimidate our new guest! Who! WHO!"

"Mr. Skeeter, breathe! It's a figure of speech! What I meant was, why are you allowing me here?"

Mr. Skeeter's fury instantly left, "Oh…hmmm…because you have an honest face. You're just so…happy to be here! Now come with me Ashliee," Mr. Skeeter took Sydney's wing. She was pulled off the flower head and lead through the crowd to the biggest mushroom hut in the town; their town hall.

"Where are you taking me?" Sydney asked.

"I have a grand idea for you. After hearing your beautiful voice scream it's way into my ears, I knew you were the one!"

"The one for what?"

"I'll show you," Mr. Skeeter said with an evil sneer that Sydney couldn't see. Mr. Skeeter opened one of the large double doors on the town hall. He allowed Sydney to enter before him, and then slammed the door shut behind him. Right at that moment, Jack came stumbling to a stop in the middle of the plaza. He rested against Sydney's flower head to catch his breath. After a few seconds of managing his breathing, Jack looked around for Sydney, but only saw scared animal eyes.

"And I used to be such a good runner, too," Jack muttered to himself. Noticing that the residents were watching him, Jack decided to take advantage of the unwanted attention given to him, "Hi! Umm…has anyone seen a teenage girl-DUCK! I mean, a teenage duck that is a girl?" Jack tried to correct his mistake, "She's pink, fluffy, and has a hard plastic face, similar to mine. Has anyone seen her?"

The crowd was silent, and some animals were shivering.

"YOU MUST HELP US, PLEASE!" Jack's attention was suddenly drawn to a little red robin that shot up from the crowd. He was begging madly for help. A nervous fox jumped up and grabbed the robin by the tail feathers. The fox had pulled him back down into the crowd, and then placed a paw over his beak. The robin struggled to free himself; he bit the fox's paw.

The robin shot back into the air, then flew in front of Jack's face, "Pleas sir, you must save us! That stinky skunk is eventually going kill most of us, as he already has done to those unfortunate ones," the robin paused, reflecting on his own lost relatives, "But he will do away Ashliee Simpson at any moment now!"

_Who's Ashliee Simpson? _Jack thought to himself. _She sounds like a fake, poser, wane-be-as-good-as-her-sister-but-never-will-be singer. Who is this bird talking about?_

"Your duck friend you speak of, Ashliee Simpson, is about to be eaten alive!"

"Sydney!" Jack breathed.


	12. Chapter 12: Dinner And A Show

CHAPTER 12

Dinner And A Show

Mr. Skeeter stationed Sydney in the center of the stage. They were in an empty dinner theater. It was fancy with tables and tabletop candles. The stage looked especially elegant. It was nothing like the rest of Easter Town.

"Alright Ashliee, I want you to stand right here and sing your little heart out!"

"Any special request?" Sydney asked.

"How about…hmmmm…Happy Birthday? The thing is I'm going to send Mr. Cottontail through that door at the other end of the room. When he comes in, I want him to be surprised and delighted to have such a beautiful voice serenading him a Happy Birthday! Understand?

"Yeah, I got this."

"Good, sing on my signal. Oh, and sing as loud as you can. I mean, really let it out! Mr. Cottontail has gone hard-of-hearing with his years. He's over 200 you know."

"But wont that make me sing worse?"

"No, you'll do fine! Just concentrate on being heard from about ten miles away."

Mr. Skeeter ran backstage; out of sight. Sydney fixed her posture in preparation for her solo.

Sydney's thoughts started up: 'Y_ou must always stand up straight for the best quality of sound.' At least, that's what I read in an old songbook, right before I burned it for warmth when I was stranded in Indiana. Possibly, if I get this right, Mr. Skeeter might give me the Easter egg Jack and I came for. Jack would be so proud that I could handle this all by myself! He would really be impressed! Wait, I sound like I really care about what Jack thinks of me…but, do I?_

Sydney's eyes drifted around the room.

_Hey, if Mr. Cottontail is so important, why is no one here for his party? Are they coming in with him…or is there something else going-?_

"SING, ASHLIEE! SING!" Mr. Skeeter shouted from backstage.

Sydney sucked in her max amount of air, threw back her head, and unleashed the loudest, most voice cracked, most awful Happy Birthday song known to man!

From the opposite side of the room, the double doors that Mr. Cottontail was supposed to enter through had burst open!

Jack ran inside, waving his arms around to catch Sydney's attention, "SYDNEY STOP! IT'S A TRAP!"

Sydney didn't hear a thing. Jack could hardly hear himself. Behind Sydney, something crawled under the curtain from backstage. It was vicious, hungry, and swiftly approaching her. The thing opened his jaws, and licked his razor teeth.

Sydney concluded her screeching

song, "-**_DAY…TOOOOOOO…YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU_**!"

"SYDNEY!"

Sydney looked at Jack a few feet away, "Hey Jack, you made it! Did you catch my song?"

"SYDNEY, BEHIND YOU!"

"What?"

Sydney turned around confused. At the other end of the stage an alligator had his head cocked to the side, mouth wide open. Like a scissor effect, he was preparing to snap Sydney in half!

With complete confidence, she reached into her jeans pocket, "I can handle this Jack!"

"But Sydney, I have your-!"

"Alligator, let's see if you can survive the power of my magic, silver-!" She wiped out from her pocket, and held before her…a flower!

"Daisy? But where's my rod?"

Head cocked, and mouth open, the alligator's stubby legs raced toward Sydney. As her only defense, Sydney screamed.

"No!" Jack thrust his wrist in the direction of Sydney. His green bracelet shot out at her, wrapped around her waist, and then yanked her off stage. The alligator had reached her, but his clamp just missed her stomach. The bracelet retracted Sydney into Jack's arms.

"Jack, watch out!" Sydney pointed to the alligator. The beast licked around his jaw and lunged for the pair.

"_**Oh, somewhere deep inside of these bones**," _Jack sang,_ "**An emptiness began to grow**," _the alligator stopped right in front of them. Sydney was hugging Jack tightly around the neck, "_**There's somewhere out there far from my home**," _alligator had a dizzy smile and a drunk expression. His eyes were heavy. He lowered his head, "_**A longing that…I've neeeeeeveeeeer knooooooooooooown...**"_ the alligator was fast asleep.

Sydney whispered to Jack, "That was beautiful, Jack. Did you write it?"

"Yeah," he whispered back, "that was too close."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed an angered voice from behind the stage curtain. Jack was startled. His bony arms lost hold of Sydney and she fell hard on her butt.

"Oww! Jack, you dropped me!"

Mr. Skeeter shot out from backstage. His head was lowered for a massive head-butt into Jack's chest. Mr. Skeeter ran across the stage, leapt off the edge into the air, and smashed into Jack's coolly outstretched hand. With a headache, he fell the 6 feet onto the floor.

Mr. Skeeter had a dizzy expression on his face and stars in his eyes, "I don't want to go to school, mommy," he said swaying with a drunken tone, "I want to stay home and make cookies with you!"

Jack bent over and picked up Mr. Skeeter by the skin on the back of his neck. Mr. Skeeter made more dizzy moans.

"Jack," Sydney said while getting up, "what just happened?"

"Why don't you tell her," Jack said to Mr. Skeeter. Jack shook the skunk a little, but he was still punch-drunk, "Fine, be that way," Jack turned back to Sydney, " Mr. Skeeter was going to feed you to the alligator. It wakes with hunger to awful music, but sleeps to the opposite."

Mr. Skeeter finally came back to his sober state, and heard every word Jack said, "How did you learn all this, mysterious…bunny-man?"

"Let's just say a little birdie told me."

"DAMN THOSE BIRDS! DAMN THEM ALL!" Mr. Skeeter was kicking and clawing furiously.

"Tell us," Jack went on, "Mr. Skeeter, why were you doing this?"

"You want to know why…I'LL TELL YOU WHY! I as tired of being the assistant to Mr. Cottontail. He was always having me write things, do things, ran errands, and always made me work! It was no fun."

"But you were his assistant!" protested Sydney, "That was your job!"

"Maybe so, but I was tired of it. So, using ancient, Easter magic, I cast a spell on Mr. Cottontail; turning him into…" Mr. Skeeter turned his head toward the alligator.

"You didn't!" Jack breathed.

"Yes, I did! And he'll stay an alligator as long as I feed him. Then, I will rule Easter Town forever!"

Jack responded with a sneer and a threat, "We'll just see about that."

Jack put his free hand on the alligator's head. At the moment of contact, a red light glowed under his palm. In a matter of seconds Jack had told Peter of Mr. Skeeter's plan and what he had done to turn him into an alligator all within a single nightmare. Mr. Cottontail growled through his teeth. He opened his eyes to revel a blood red glare at Mr. Skeeter. Slowly, Peter separated his long jaws. Beads off saliva rolled down his set of upper, jagged teeth. Jack had an evil expression and a devious sneer as he held Mr. Skeeter over the jaws of death.

"Wa-wa-wait! STOP!" Mr. Skeeter begged, "Wha-what are you going to do?"

"You feelin' lucky…punk?" Jack teased.

"Please, don't!"

Jack's voice suddenly became grave, "Listen to me! You don't hurt my friends, and you certainly DON'T GET IN MY WAY!"

Mr. Skeeter whimpered, "Who are you?"

"I'm JACK, THE PUMPKIN KING! And you don't fk with THE PUMPKIN KING!"

"My god! You're the skele-"

Enraged, Jack nearly slammed Mr. Skeeter into the alligator's throat. Skipping the bloody, chewy, crunchy, and messy details, Jack insidiously chuckled at Mr. Skeeter's gory consumption by the alligator. Jack was still laughing when he turned from the satisfied reptile to the mortified Sydney. He chocked on the last of his laughter when he saw her wide eyes, dropped jaw, and stunned expression. She slowly turned to look at Jack, then rolled her eyes back, and fainted. Jack caught her in his arms before she hit the ground.

He gave Sydney a decent shake, "Wake up Sydney. Come on."

"Ohhhhhhh…" Sydney said coming back, "That was so sick! I've never seen carnage like that before. It's nothing like in the horror movies."

"It never is," Jack helped Sydney back to her feet, "You'll be fine. A little childhood trauma builds character."

"Jack, you said you would never inflict someone with a nightmare. This time, you actually commanded the alligator to eat someone. No, devour! Why?"

"No, I said I wouldn't inflict someone with a nightmare, unless it came to it. In this case, it came to it. Plus, I didn't really like him."

"What are you implying?"

"Sydney, no body messes with my friends. Nobody. And lives to get away with it."

"You did that for me? Thank you, Jack. And I'm sorry I almost got us killed. I was trying to do a good job, so that-."

"It's okay, kid. We live, and we learn," Jack winked at her, "Well…that's true for some of us."


	13. Chapter 13: Progress Report

CHAPTER 13

Progress Report

Like in the old TV show, Sliders, Lock went screaming down a green portal. It was his first time here because Shock and he was always sending Barrel to report to Oogie Boogie. This time however, Barrel was quicker with swinging his mask.

Lock rode the green dram portal until he was dropped off in a dark, moist, Batman-like cave. The portal appeared 10 feet off the ground, dropping Lock on is butt like a sack of potatoes. After he stood up to dust himself, off a green bon fire suddenly ignited from a crack in the ground. The fire grew to be about fire times Lock's size, but it didn't radiate any heat. In the center of the flames, the insidious, inhumane face of Oogie Boogie took form.

"Lock," Oogie's voice boomed through out the cave, "long time no see. Mind telling me why that is?"

"Well…uh…first off, whatever you're mad at me for, it was all Barrel's fault! Second, I have news for you."

Oogie liked the sound of this, "Go on."

"Easter Town was being taken over by some crazed skunk the same time Jack and Sydney arrived. They basically rode in, kicked the skunk off his throne, and returned the enchanted Easter Bunny back to normal. After that, they left."

"This isn't making a lot of since."

"It's a long story."

"Did they get the egg?"

"Oh, not just any egg. To show his appreciation, the Easter Bunny gave them the Royal Cottontail Egg of solid gold! It's guarantied not brake."

Oogie Boogie became excited, "Oh, goodie! Were their identities discovered? Did they get caught? Where are they now? "

"Whoa! Whoa! Slow down there! Do you have ants in your sack?"

Oogie Boogie froze, completely stunned. Then, he glared at Lock, and the flames burst to a Hellish red, "DON'T YOU DARE BACK SASS ME, BOY!" Oogie's roar shook the cave.

"Sorry, master!" Lock bowed down to him, "I was out of line. Jack and Sydney are still roaming around, and no one knows of their existence. They left Easter Town an hour ago, and are now on their way to Thanksgiving Town, completely incognito. They only have four more objects to get from the list."

Oogie Boogie had cooled down a bit, and his flames were green again, "Excellent! Everything is going according to plan. Lock, I want you to wake up, get the other two idiots, and continue reporting on Jack and Sydney. By the way, how is that girl doing?"

"Fine, sir. Even better, Jack doesn't suspect a thing."

"Good. And before you leave, take some bread and water to-"

"What about…" Lock's interjection trailed off.

"Whhhhhhaaat?" Oogie asked extremely annoyed.

"What about the Angel of Darkness?" Lock completed his question.

To this, Oogie had completely forgotten Lock's rudeness, "Ahhhhhh yes…the Angel of Darkness. Now there is a real problem…hmmmm…or maybe not! Lock, recite to me the prophecy."

"Right away sir!" Lock looked around him, "Uhhhhhhhh…how?"

"Use this," Oogie shot out a roll of parchment at Lock.

Lock unrolled the parchment and read it aloud. It was a copy of the prophecy predicted by one of the Halloween Town witches, "The Angel of Darkness…" Lock quickly scanned the page, only reading the important parts, "…She will be the one to slay evil. She will be the one and only to end the fears of the future. If she fights on midnight of October 30th, she will concur against the evil-."

"Yes, yes, but cut a head to the other part. Where it tells you who this Angel of Darkness is."

Lock scrolled down the parchment, "Here it is, the five indications, 'There will be no words to describe the radiance of her beauty. She will have a fighter's will. During a battle, she will penetrate an already dead man. She will have the body of a monster, but the soul of an angel. And she will have the scar of a woman reborn.'"

There was a few seconds of impatient silence.

"Well?" Ooige asked annoyed, "Is that it?"

"Yeah, that's it. How are we going to find this…angel?"

Oogie thought for a minute, "Just keep your eyes open. If you find a girl that matches this description, keep an eye in her and let me know. Keep taking notes and keep me up to date with everything that goes on. Got it?"

"Yes sir," Lock bowed.

As Lock turned back to leave through the newly opened portal, Oogie stopped him, "As I was saying before, before you leave take same bread and water to that bitch, doll face. Approach her with caution though. She's been kicking, screaming, and throwing herself against the cell walls since I had her kidnapped. She's even been trying to escape by various means of dismemberment. Too bad she hasn't even come close," Oogie chuckled to himself.

Lock started to walk in the direction of Sally's cell, however he was stopped by a mysterious female voice in the shadows, "Never mind him, Oogie Bogie, sir. I'll feed her. I always enjoy our little…" she cracked her knuckles in her palms, "…meetings."

Without waiting for a reply, the woman walked in the direction of Sally's cell. Her evil grin she wore foretold that nothing good was to come for Sally.

"Alright then, Lock, be off with you!"

"Yes master," Lock turned toward the green portal, took a running start, and then leapt into it. He was waking up.


	14. Chapter 14: Memories

CHAPTER 14

Memories

Jack and Sydney were riding in an old horse drawn carriage through the crowded, dirt streets of Thanksgiving Town. Everything looked like it was from the days of pilgrims and Indians; with the exception that they were all getting along. Jack wore a brown pilgrim disguise, and Sydney looked like Pocahontas. Despite Jack's pale, skull face, they blended right in. The two had just entered the village, unaware of the three stole ways in the back of the carriage: Lock, Shock, and Barrel.

"Wow, it's like we're in an Indian movie!" exclaimed Sydney, "Except the guys aren't walking around half naked," she suddenly noticed some fat guys drinking beer without there tops on across the street. Sydney cringed, "Well, the hot guys aren't."

"You know," started Jack on a completely different subject. He spoke while holding the horse reins, "I have a fuzzy feeling about this place, but I've never seen anything like it before."

"What's this 'fuzzy feeling' like? Is it mold?"

Jack raised a brow bone to her, "It feels…like home. It's a strong feeling too. Like I've actually walked these streets before, but it's my first time here."

"That's strange. How does this place relate to Halloween Town?"

"Not Halloween Town; something different, but familiar. It could be from my previous life. When I was alive."

"Waite a minute! You used to have a pulse?"

"I don't know. I don't even remember how I came to be. My late past is a complete blur to me."

"I wish my past was a complete blur."

"What do you mean, Sydney?"

"When I was a little girl, both my parents died in a house fire. I had no other living relatives or neighbors that would take me in. I had no one to care for me, and nowhere to live. I was alone. Trying to find a place that felt like home, I hitchhiked all over America. I was searching for that feeling that you have now, Jack, but I couldn't find it."

"The feeling, or home?"

"Both. I was caught three years ago for stealing food and was put into foster care. I kept running away from the parents they set me up with. I didn't want to be tied down to replacement parents, but the foster home didn't care. They started getting fed up with me. It eventually came down to this: go to Juvenal Hall, or stay with the roughest, toughest, most heartless of all adults, the Cartmens. They were proof that evil could take a human form. I chose to stay with the Cartmans because I thought anything would be better than jail, but I was wrong. In fact, they were only foster parents because they were paid a good deal of money to watch over the bad kids."

"I don't think you're a bad kid," Jack patted Sydney on the head. He made Sydney feel like he was praising her as a puppy. She thought it was funny, so she smiled, "How did you end up in Halloween Town?"

"I was…I…" Sydney had started to tell Jack. A fire in her throat wanted to burst out every word, every detail! However if Jack found out why she was really here, she would lose the valuable piece of information that she wanted more than anything and was being used as a means to control her. It was one of those 'you deliver, then I'll deliver' situations. But Jack couldn't know what she was up to, or the deal would be off.

"I…don't remember how I got here either."

"Yeah, right," whispered Lock. Shock smacked him hard as a means for him to shut up, "Ow!" he cried.

"What was that?" asked Jack.

He and Sydney turned to look in the back of the carriage. Lock, Shock, and Barrel were stiff and silent; pressed against the side of the carriage. Sydney had a feeling it was them.

"It's nothing Jack, really. Just some noise," Sydney turned back in her seat, "JACK, WATCH OUT!"

A beautiful, blonde, pilgrim woman had just walked out in front of the carriage. Jack sharply turned back in his seat. His strong pull on the reins caused the horses to rear up, neighing, and kicking their hooves in the air. The woman stopped right in front of them. She screamed and covered her face for protection, but it did no good. One of the horse's hooves made a violent blow to her head, giving the woman an instant concussion. Her body went limp and collapsed on the dirt road. Jack gave a final tug on the reins, and both the horses had calmed down. He and Sydney were stunned. They both feared that the woman was dead.

"Get a doctor," Jack told Sydney.

He sprang from the carriage, and ran to tend the woman. He placed his bony fingers on her neck, "There's a pulse. She'll be alright for now."

"Help! Help!" Sydney yelled to random citizens. They began to gather around the woman, "Could somebody get a doctor? Is there a doctor in the house?"

Jack had pulled the woman up on his lap. With a hand under her head, he stroked her hair, and whispered to her, "Please wake up. I know you're going to make it. Just open your eyes," he looked into her pale face and felt his sensation of home growing, "Do I know you?" Jack whispered the question to her, "Maybe you can answer a few of my questions," Jack closed his eyes and placed his hand on top of her golden locks. There was a quick flash of red under his palm that shot the woman's nightmare up Jack's arm and into his skull. It only took a second for him to see the entire dream.

His eyes shot open with astonishment, and his mouth muttered his summarized feelings, "Oh…my…god…" if Jack had eyes, they would have rolled back in his head as he fainted on his back. The crowd around the unconscious Jack and pilgrim lady grew larger and ever more curious.

"Jack?" Sydney was pushing her way through the crowd to Jack, "Where are you? A doctor is on his way. We should head out…Jack?" Sydney made it to the center clearing, where the two untouched bodies laid, "Jack!" she rushed to his aid. Sydney grabbed him under the arms and began pulling him through the crowd. He was extremely easy to tug, "He'll be fine folks, believe me! My friend here just had a little too much to drink at his daughter's 5th birthday party."

The men in the crowd nodded their heads in understanding, then all turned back to the injured woman.

_That was close,_ Sydney thought.

She pulled Jack to an empty ally. Sydney made sure the coast was clear, and then lightly slapped Jack awake, "Come on you lazy toothpick, wake up."

"What…where…what?"

"Three very good questions," Sydney helped Jack sit up, "Jack, what happened to you?"

Lock, Shock, and Barrel had already crept out of the carriage, and where watching the pair from behind stacked crates.

"I saw the woman's nightmare. It was the most shocking nightmare I've ever seen!"

"She must have a pretty messed up mind to have scared the Pumpkin King.-"

"No! Let me finish! You don't understand! This nightmare was about me! I don't recall ever meeting this woman, but she knows me! In her nightmare, I saw my previous life! I saw how the holiday worlds were started, where I came from, who I was, who I knew, and so much more! I remember everything now! I remember!"

Over whelmed with excitement, Jack threw his long arms around Sydney, and gave her a squeezing hug. Lock, Shock, and Barrel gasped at this news. Even they didn't remember their mortal lives. Sydney raised an eyebrow. She struggled out of Jack's hug.

"Jack, you're choking me."

"Oh, sorry," he let Sydney go.

"So, tell me about this nightmare, Jack! Tell me everything!" Sydney begged, excited.

That same feeling was mutual amongst the spying trio, with their ears pressed hard against the crates, straining to hear.

"Sorry, Sydney," Jack confessed, "I can't."

Sydney's excitement, as well as Lock, Shock, and Barrel's, was extinguished by disappointment.

"Well, why not?" Sydney whined.

"I can't tell you about the nightmare, because there's too much detail. It would just be a lot easier if I showed it to you."

Jack placed his hand on Sydney's head.


	15. Chapter 15: In The Nightmare

CHAPTER 15

In The Nightmare

Jack put his bony hand on Sydney's head. The red flash under his palm streamed the nightmare, as well as Jack's mind, into Sydney's brain. The Pilgrim Jack that Sydney had just seen touch her head turned into Pumpkin King Jack. The sunny pioneer village wrinkled into a creepy, dark, and foggy town. She was even back in her black, punk clothes. After the transformation was complete, Sydney examined herself. She was delighted to be back in her own clothes, and even more so to have her old feet back. They were no longer hairy monkey feet, but her own human feet snug inside her black vans she had left back in Halloween Town.

"What just happened?" asked a confused Sydney, "Are we in the nightmare?"

"Small world," said Jack, "We're in Sleepy Hallow, my old home."

"But how are you here, Jack? Are you part of the nightmare?" Sydney started poking Jack in the chest; just to be sure he was there.

"Stop that," Jack said a little irritated, "Yes and no. I inserted my mind into your brain to guide you through the nightmare. If you get lost in a nightmare, there's no yellow brick road home."

"Hey, I didn't know that you knew about the Wizard of Oz!"

"The wizard of what?"

"I guess you don't. Never mind! On a different note," Sydney scanned Jack's attire, "Why are you…me…us dressed differently?"

"These are the physical representations of our mantel selves," Sydney stared at Jack blankly. He gave an annoyed sigh, "Look, just nod your head and pretend like you know what I'm talking about."

Sydney nodded with her still blank expression.

"Good," Jack added, "Now let's get going before we miss anything good."

Sydney walked next to Jack down the dark, foggy streets.

_My god,_ thought Sydney, _this place looks so gloomy, and…even a little scary._

Suddenly, a man jumped out from a dark ally with a deadly knife. He swung it around in random directions with a bloodthirsty smile.

"Eeeeekkk!" Sydney squeaked and she jumped into Jack's arms. He caught her like a large feather.

The crazed man used his long knife to slash through Sydney's body, "Yes! YES!" the man cried with every swing of his arm. A moment later he stopped to examine the knife. He ran his fingertips over the side of the knife, feeling the cold steel, "Yes! This should do nicely!" The stranger gave a low, thick, devious laugh and ran in the opposite of Jack and the trembling girl in his arms.

"Oh my god!" Sydney cried. She felt the places on her body where the knife had touched her, "it…it didn't cut me. Not a scratch. I didn't feel a thing."

"Dream fragments, such as everything you see around you, can't see, touch, or hear us. The dream runs through as it originally did, and we're just ghost here to watch. No one can hurt you," Jack tried to sound reassuring.

"That's good. That's good," Sydney was catching her breath, "Not that I was afraid or anything!"

"Ahem," Jack reminded Sydney that she was still cradled in his arms.

"Ahh…I was tired. And cold. Good thing you were here to catch me when my legs gave out."

"Real funny. I'm putting you down now."

"Please don't!" Sydney hugged Jack's neck, tighter. He smiled and sighed.

Jack started carrying Sydney through the dark streets of Sleepy Hallow. Sydney felt like no matter how spooky this little town was, and despite the fact that she couldn't be touched, she felt safe and secure in the arms of the Fright Master. She guessed that was way she liked him to carry her so much.

The streets were abandoned with a dead silence hanging in the air. Their only light was dim, and it was being emitted from a nearly ecliptic moon.

"Where is everybody?" asked Sydney, "There's not a soul in sight."

Jack stopped walking. They were stationed in front of a large, gray building with pillars. The plaque on the wall said: "Town Hall".

"They're in here," Jack responded. He carried Sydney literally through the large, wooden, double doors. Going into the building was like stepping out of a dark, depressing closet into the comfort of your brightly lit living room. Inside there was music, food, loud talking, and laughter. It looked relative to the scene in the movie Sleepy Hallow, when Icabod Crain first arrived into town. There was a festive party going on and every one was joyful. The people were dressed from colonial times, and wore elaborate porcelain, monster mask. All the residents of town must have been there.

"Trippy!" exclaimed Sydney. She jumped from Jack's arms onto the dance floor. Using her own unique, bad movements, her dancing stuck out like a pickle in a cookie jar. Lucky for her, only Jack could see.

"Sydney!" Jack called to her.

"What? Can't you see I'm trying to get my grove on?"

"It looks like you're having a seizure, while trying to kill a cat with your feet. You're just lucky no one can see you."

"Hey, I'm not trying to impress anyone."

Jack pointed to the front of the room, on the stage where the band was playing off to the side, "Now pay attention to this. It's an important part,"

A short, fat man shuffled onto center stage. The musicians stopped playing their instruments out of respect. The short man raised his hands for silence and attention. Everyone stopped dancing to watch, including Sydney. All was quite.

"Ladies and gents," the little man boomed. His loud voice projected around the room, "As mayor of Sleepy Hallow, I'm pleased to be hosting a very, very special birthday party."

"Is that the mayor from Halloween Town?" Sydney asked Jack.

"Pay attention, and all your questions will be answered. I know; I've already seen the nightmare."

Sydney tuned back into the mayor's speech, "-A birthday that bridges the final year of being a boy, and the crossing over into a man. This is the birthday of my two nephews I've raised since they were orphaned, so many years ago," there was a sad sigh that went through the audience, "Anyways, these boys are like sons to me. I love them both dearly. And this day of October 31st, I ask that everybody wish a happy birthday to the Skellington boys, Jack and Timothy!"


	16. Chapter 16: The Birthday Party

CHAPTER 16

The Birthday Party

Jack and Tim walked out from the standing crowd, one behind the other, onto the stage. The lights were dimmed. A spotlight shone on the pair as they made their way. The audience gave a respectful applause.

"Jack," whispered Sydney to the skeleton beside her. He had to stoop down to hear her, "Is that you?" She pointed to one of the Skellingtons on stage.

"No, that's my brother Tim," he gave her finger a tiny push toward the person next to Tim, "That's me."

"Whoa, you to should have done gum commercials."

"Huh?"

"You and Tim are TWINS! Or, were twins…anyways, you both looked perfect for a camera! You were tall, young, and resembled Johnny Depp! You were just gorgeous!-" Sydney slapped her hands over her over her mouth. Her checks were becoming rosy red.

_Oh…my…god! Did I just tell bone man he was gorgeous! I mean, he was, but I didn't have to say it!_

Jack gave her a side-mouth smile and winked at her, "No getting anything past you, huh?"

On stage, Jack and Tim stood in the spotlight, waving and smiling to their audience. You couldn't tell them apart, except for their personality. Even their attire looked identical. The man on the right had a genuine smile and loved the attention. The other man's smile was fake and, if you got close enough, he looked like he was trying to hide the fact that he was uncomfortable being displayed.

The mayor spoke to them, "Would you boys like to give a few words before your Birthday song?"

"Of course!" the Skellington on the right replied almost immediately. He dashed to center stage, where he gave a speech in his projected voice, "I'd just like to say, thank you all for coming! Thank you uncle for throwing this very generous party. Thank you friends for attending!" the Skellington's voice became softer as he held out his hand to a woman in the crowd, "And thank you, Gracie, for making me the happiest man in Sleepy Hallow," he flashed her a dazzling white smile that reflected a sparkle under the spotlight. All the ladies in the crowd were struck in awe.

The skeleton Jack that stood next to Sydney started to choke on a laugh, "Ha! What a load of-!"

"Jack!" exclaimed Sydney, "That was so sweet! How can you mock your own brother at a romantic moment like this?" Jack paused for a second, reflecting on her words, then started to laugh even harder, "You're a sick man, Skellington," Sydney muttered under her breath.

A woman in the audience jumped up and down, excitedly waving her arms in the air to be seen by the man, despite how dark it was. It was Gracie, "I LOVE YOU, JACK!" the man on center stage gave her a side mouthed smile and winked.

Sydney looked from the Jack on stage to the Jack beside her. He held his head down while shaking it, ashamed of what his living past had just done.

"Wait a minute," Sydney started, "Did you just…and you're on…you laughed…wait!"

"Sydney, before you give yourself more brain damage, why don't you go on stage for a better understanding?"

"Ummmmm…I guess if it helps," Sydney took a few steps foreword, and then stopped. She looked behind her to see Jack still rooted to his spot, "Aren't you coming?"

"I think I'll just wait for you. I'm feeling a little lazy."

"Alright, I wont be long."

Sydney made it through the crowd of people dressed like fancy monsters and onto the stage just as living Jack finished the rest of his speech. He bowed for his pleased audience, and then walked back to stand next to his brother.

The mayor projected his voice for the crowd to hear, "Tim, would you like to give a few words as well?"

Tim stayed in his spot. His face was hesitant as he considered his response, but finally, he spoke, "…thanks."

"Ha, ha, ha!" the mayor laughed playfully, and a little showy for the crowd, "A man of few words. Lets give these boys a song now, shall we?"

The mayor snapped his fingers in the direction of the musicians. They realized that this was their cue. The lead musician counted off, "A one, and a two, and a…" the band strung out an old fashioned Happy Birthday tune, leaving the residents to sing the lyrics.

During the song, Tim leaned into Jack sideways preparing to whisper, but trying to seem nonchalant. Sydney stepped up behind Jack and Tim. Not that she was hiding, there was no propose for that. She wanted to get in depth with their secret conversation without being "inside" one of the Skellingtons. The whole "hey I can be inside of you without taking off my pants, opening your mouth, or using a knife" thing made her skin crawl. That was probably a bad example of how little Sydney liked the transparency thing, but its true. It may not phase people to read about this sort of thing or see it in movies, but if you ever really experience it, it's…it's…just not right! On tiptoes, Sydney leaned her head in close to the boys. She could barely hear their whispers over the music, but it was better than nothing.

"That was really something, Jack," Tim whispered, "What you said to Gracie was really…touching," he seemed almost reluctant to speak these words.

Jack whispered back, "Yeah…I'm dumping her."

"WHAT!" Sydney and Tim said shocked in unison. Tim almost broke his whisper.

"After that show you put on!" Sydney cried. She tried to whack Jack in the back of the head, but lost her balance as she fell through him onto the floor. She didn't feel a thing. Sydney scrambled back up to hear the rest of the discussion.

_That must have been the "load" Jack was laughing about_. Sydney thought. _Men these days!_

"But…but…" Tim was having trouble controlling his nerves he was so surprised,

"Gracie is the sweetest…most kind…most beautiful woman in all of Sleepy Hallow; if not the world!"

"I know," Jack whispered, "but she's just not right for me. She's…she's," it took Jack a moment to think of the right word, "conventional. I want someone unique, someone special, someone I can relate to better than Gracie."

"And who is this someone?"

"Well, she's-."

Jack was cutoff by the town's people's applause. They had finished their song and were clapping praise for the Skellington boys, as if that was the only thing they knew how to do.

The mayor carried his voice over all the commotion, "I have a very special birthday gift for you boys," he clapped his hands next to his head, "Oh, Ragsdales, this is the cue."

From backstage, two teenagers came out baring gifts. The girl was about 19, and the boy 18. Both their dress attire were solid black, and they both had sleek, raven colored hair. The girl's hair grew down to her slim hips. She had charcoal dust rubbed on her fingernails as well as her eyelids. She reminded Sydney of Lydia Deets from Beetlejuice.

_What a cool chick._

Sydney's eyes began to drift from the gothic-chic girl, to the punky lookin' boy. His hair was thick and spiky.

_He seems familiar. I can't place the face…or hair…or eyes…or anything. But I'm getting vibes from him that are telling me that we've crossed paths before. But how could that be? This is from over a hundred years ago._ Sydney shook her head as a shocking thought crossed her mind. _Wait a minute! That woman that Jack nearly ran over in Thanksgiving Town, is she over a hundred years old too? How many crusty oldies do we have strollin' around in these holiday worlds? And…is she here?_

Sydney began turning her head in all directions, trying to find the mysterious, blonde, pilgrim woman. However, her search was interrupted when the Ragsdale kids walked directly through her to get to the Skellingtons. As each one of them passed through, her body rippled, and made a strange strumming sound only she and skeleton Jack could hear.

"Whoa, I don't think I'll ever get used to this whole transparent thing," Sydney groaned to herself.

She turned her attention back to the Ragsdale kids. The older girl walked ahead of her brother to give her gift to Jack. As if guided by her heart, she knew which of the two Jack was.

"Happy Birthday Jack-I mean, Mr. Skellington," the girl spoke in a soft voice. Her cheeks were blushing bright on her fair skin, and her expression was unusually happy.

"Thank you," Jack replied while receiving his gift, "…um…what was it again? Halley?"

This question made the Ragsdale boy and Tim freeze in their process of passing on the Birthday gift. Both their heads were turned attentively to Jack.

The Ragsdale boy tightened his jaw, and glared hard at Jack. His thoughts ran in a flurry of furious past images. _That stupid, spoiled brat! He gets everything he wants, and doesn't even give the kindness to remember my sister's name! He wouldn't even know who she was if she wasn't always making gifts for him! And for god's sake, the population of this town is a little over 30! Get it together Jack-ass! _

"Sally," answered the Ragsdale girl, only slightly phased by Jack's comment.

"Oh, yes, Sally," Jack chuckled to himself, "It's kind of funny actually. You're the only one in town that can tell Tim and myself apart, and I can't even remember your name! Ha, ha! Isn't that humorous?"

The hands of the Ragsdale boy started to slightly shake while holding the gift out to Tim. _Oh, Jack, I'll be laughing too…when I have your fat head on a pike in my backyard! Now, wouldn't that be humorous? HA, HA, HA!_

Sally's smile wavered. She forced a giggle and said, "Yeah, I guess that is a little funny. Uh…here's your gift!" she held out the package to Jack. He took it and said thank you once more.

Tim just frowned, and slightly shook his head. He was used to the typical, insensitive Jack treating those that were less important…well, like they were less important. On the other hand, the Ragsdale boy didn't like this at all. His teeth were grinding, hands shaking, eyes glaring with a burning hatred. He released the present in Tim's hands, and took a step towards Jack.

"Diego!" Tim said under his breath. His hand shot out to Diego's arm, and held him there, "It's not worth it!"

Diego shot back at him, under his breath as well, "Have you not seen the way he's been treating her for all these years! I'm gonna show you just how much this is worth!"

Diego broke from Tim's grip. With his top lip curled in hate, he took three stomping steps in Jack's direction. Diego was a few inches shorter than Jack, but his masculine bulk could beat down the skinny man to a bloody pulp; which were Diego's exact intentions.

Diego came within six inches of Jack. Both Jack and Sally turned to him, surprised by Diego sudden presence. Diego raised his finger to Jack's face, and said in a husky, furious tone, "You! If you only knew just how much Sally-!"

Out of nowhere, the Mayor caught Sally and Diego from behind, and started pushing them backstage, "Thank you both. That'll be enough for tonight!"

With a final thrust from the Mayor, Sally and Diego stumbled backstage. They landed on the ground, sliding a few feet before stopping.

"What?" said skeleton Jack in the audience. He had just seen Sally and Diego shoved back stage, "I don't remember seeing this."

Jack made his way through the crowd by simply walking through the people. He made his way to the back stage.

"You kids alright?" the Mayor asked the Ragsdales.

"Ohhhh," Sally moaned, "I think I broke my-!"

"All right!" exclaimed the Mayor, obviously careless of Sally's condition. He went back to center stage where the timid Tim, and excited Jack waited to open their present, "What are you waiting for? Open the gifts! I personally had them made!"

"Yeah, open the gifts!" the crowd chanted.

"Let's get out of here," Diego said to his big sister back stage. He was a little calmer now.

"No, I want to see this," Sally replied.

Her eyes were glued to Jack as he gladly ripped open his present. Jack stuck his hand in the medium-sized box wrapped in black and orange paper, to pull out a beautifully constructed black tie. His face lit up at the wondrous gift he received, and thought, that under the right lighting, the tie resembled a tiny bat with large wings.

Tim's reaction to the gift wasn't exactly the same as Jack's. His gift was the same tie, but colored a deep, blood red. At first his face twisted to slight disgust, but then he remembered his manners and forced out, "Thanks uncle. It's really…really…something…"

"I LOVE IT!" Jack's sudden enthusiasm made nearly startled everyone, "I…LOVE IT…THANK YOU UNCLE!"

"He likes it, no, loves it!" cried Sally.

"What would ever give you that idea?" Diego asked, sarcastically.

"What? Why are you acting this way, Diego?"

"Well, why do you care about what Jack thinks?"

"I made the gifts and wrapping paper single-handedly, thank you very much. When the mayor asked me to make these gifts for Jack and Tim, I couldn't refuse!"

Skeleton Jack had just exited the crowd and approached Sally from behind. The three of them continued watching as the mayor instructed the musicians to strike up some dance music. In a synchronized pattern of an old movie musical, the crowd paired up and began waltzing around the room. Still on stage, living Jack and Tim exchanged a few urgent whispers. For the first time that night, if not ever, Jack looked like he was pleading as he whispered to Tim. However, the moment Gracie skipped up on stage, Jack shoved Tim away.

Diego suddenly gave a violent sneeze that drew Sally's attention away from the stage.

"Bless you," she said to him maternally. Sally always treated Diego like a son. Being the only two Ragdales left, somebody has to play the parent.

Sally turned her attention back to the stage…big…mistake. She watched in horror as Gracie left the stage and went onto the dance floor with Jack, not resisting and with a wide set grin on his face. The moment they took each other into their arms, and their bodies began to sway to the melody; the couple seemed to glide over the hard wood floor, waltzing to the smooth music. The two were talking, and laughing. Their time together seemed magical. Yes magical, like an enchantment upon living Jack and Gracie, and a curse upon Sally.

Skeleton Jack looked from the dancing couple before him, to the gothic girl with the sad eyes standing in front of him. Sally's back began to slightly lurch, and soft sobs escaped her breath.

"Sally…are you…are you crying?" Diego asked her. She tried to muffle her sobs, but she wouldn't speak, "Forget him, Sally! He's just a rich, spoiled brat! You're better off fancying Tim. At least he won't get a girl for you to envy."

Sally was silent for a moment, "I don't fancy anyone."

Jack started to get choked up.

"Sally, he doesn't care about you, so why should you care about him? And don't deny it. I know you love him. Everyone knows you love him; everyone, except for Jack."

Sally stared out to the dancing couple she envied so much. There was silence between her and Diego once again. With each second of silence that passed by, Diego's words sunk into her heart. They sunk in sharp and slow, like each individual word was a traitorous dagger penetrating her broken heart, and making it a bloody gore of emotional murder. She couldn't take it anymore. Sally threw her hands into her face and let out a wailing cry, however, the music and laughter was so loud, that only Diego and skeleton Jack could hear her. The tears from years of holding back flowed through the cracks of her fingers. Sally had broke.

"Sally…please don't cry…" skeleton Jack begged her.

Skeleton Jack had completely forgotten he was ghost-like. He came around to stand in front of Sally, and then bent down to embrace her. It was like hugging nothing. But Jack just stood there hugging himself, pretending to hold Sally. It was the best he could do for now.

"How could I have been so blind? You deserved to love someone better than me then, and you deserve to love someone better than me, now. I had taken you for granted in life, and even in death," impossibly, tears began to trickle from Jack's eye sockets, "I miss you…"

Under Sally's sobs, she whispered to herself, coincidentally in Jack's imaginary ear, "I love you Jack,"

Jack clenched his fists, "I love you too, Sally."

Jack slowly leaned into Sally, enclosing on her lips, but Diego came and put an emotional arm around his sister, "Come on, let's go home," Sally just slightly nodded, nearly oblivious to his remake. Diego walked Sally through Jack and out toward the crowd. The two turned away, leaving Jack still hugging himself in that same spot.

_Oh god, I've got to get her back. _Jack's thoughts were panicked._ Oh god, I'VE GOT TO GET HER BACK! I let her down before, and it wont happen again! Even if that means I have to kill that Oogie Bastard 100 times mor-!_

A gentle tap on skeleton Jack's shoulder interrupted his thoughts. Being startled by this, Jack spun around sharply to face Sydney. This fast motion startled her as well. She had caught Jack completely off guard, and could have sworn that his paper white cheeks bones were starting to blush. Jack was embarrassed.

"Wha…what do you wan…how m-m-much did you…" he spoke shyly through his apparent crying.

"I saw it all, Jack," the empathic Sydney spoke to him. This may have been the first time she ever spoke to him so friendly, and like she cared. She opened Jack's arms and placed herself in his hug, "I'm sorry," Sydney's loving support filled Jack with warmth that made him cry harder, "It's okay though. Even the King of Fright can cry. I understand now why you fainted. It is horrible to see the love of your after-life broken hearted."

"How would you know?" Jack said, annoyed that she didn't have any experience in this situation to actually feel the same way he did.

Sydney's comforting tone hadn't changed, "Because I'm looking at you."

_Shizsit! That came out wrong!_ Sydney's thoughts screamed.

"Jack, what I meant was-!"

He quickly placed a finger on her lips. Jack's thoughts were so focused on 'I understand now why you fainted'; that everything else she said he'd forgotten. Jack stopped crying, and wiped away his tears.

His voice suddenly became urgent, "Sydney, you don't understand," he grabbed her by the shoulders and brought his face down to her level, "I saw people change! I saw sick mutations! Things that I never remembered until I saw this sick nightmare! I…I…" Jack was losing his voice, caught up in the critical matter, "I…I…I SAW SALLY DIE! I saw several people DIE!"


	17. Chapter 17: Gracie

CHAPTER 17

Gracie

The cord of the final note had been struck. The musicians pulled aside their instruments and took a bow. The swirling pattern of waltzing dancers stopped, to be replaced with applause. Gracie stopped in the midst of her own clap and looked to her partner. He was also applauding the musicians, shouting excited words of praise. She'd known Jack to be an avid fan of music, but she also hadn't seen him this enthusiastic about it.

Just a few minutes ago, while the two were waltzing, they talked about different aspects of their lives that they hadn't shared before. Gracie had learned so much about Jack during that one dance, that all their other conversations seemed insignificant. This was the one conversation that turned her on the most. She especially loved how he spoke of her beauty, how much they have in common, how much he longed to be with her, and their shared passion for the new holiday, Christmas. They were both fascinated by its bright, cheerful colors, and its traditions. Gracie's favorite tradition was mistletoe. She liked that you could show you feelings for someone with an impulsive kiss, and have an excuse to do so.

"That's my favorite part of Christmas, too," he told her, "I know we don't have mistletoe here in Sleepy Hallow, but I promise I will get you some. Even if I have to go through the forbidden woods,"

_Jack had never promised anything like that before._ Gracie thought. _Going completely out of his way for someone else. I didn't really think that he loved me…that is, until now._

Like a bolt of lightning, Gracie felt an emotional jolt. Her heart began to race. Her blood shot to her cheeks. Her vision became fuzzy, but the image of the handsome, young man came in clear. Gracie felt like she was going to faint in his arms, or at least that's what she wanted to do.

_Oh my god…I think…I think I'm in love…I think-no-I did. I changed "Jack the Player", to "Jack the committed". Wow, I did it! And people thought it wasn't possible. I'm really going to have the big fish. I'm going to be Mrs. Jack Skellington!-_

"Gracie?" the man's voice broke Gracie of her trance.

"What? Oh, sorry. Thank you for the kind offer, Jack," Gracie told him with a bashful smile.

Gracie's sexual confidence in herself had vanished the moment she was struck by that emotional lightning called love. Feeling butterflies in her stomach was a new thing for her, and she didn't know how to act with them constantly fluttering around. However, she was a bit taken back when her partner's first happy expression all night suddenly turned glum.

"Jack, what's wrong?"

Right at that moment, the music had stopped, the clapping arose, and their waltz came to an end. During everyone's applause, Gracie took her partner's hand.

"I know something that will make you feel better," she said with a smile.

The man couldn't help but smile back when he saw her irresistible, plump lips draw back to display her glistening, pearly teeth.

Gracie led him through the crowd to outside. Everyone was too preoccupied in their own thing to notice the two slip out. That is, except for one person. 


	18. Chapter 18: Sally's Brake Down

CHAPTER 18

Sally's Brake Down

Diego was struggling; leading his sister toward the large, wooden, double doors, while weaving in and out of the mass of people. It was tough. They would be moving a lot faster though, if Sally were paying attention to what was going on. From the moment Diego took her from back stage to where they stood now, she hadn't unpeeled her eyes from that gorgeous, brunet bombshell…and his date. Although Sally felt she could choke on her own windpipe at this display of happiness and love that didn't involve her, she became mortified at what she saw next: Gracie was leading her honey out through the doors with hurried pace. Both looked excited and giddy, maybe even more so than when they were dancing, but it was too hard to tell under this romantic dim lighting. Once at the doors, Gracie abruptly stopped to prevent commotion and attention. She looked both ways, probably to make sure no body saw them, then she opened a door only wide enough to slip her skinny figure, as well as Jack's, through the door. There was a slight click as the latch caught when the door closed, but there wasn't a chance of anyone hearing that over all this noise. Sally's legs started to go weak.

_ Oh god_, Sally's thoughts were urgent, _they're…they're going to…to do…but they've only been together a month. Jack do you have no self respect! Can't you wait until your wedding night…the wedding night that…_

Sally's vision became blurred. She started to feel a little dizzy.

…_the wedding night that will never be mine…  
_

That was the final thrown rock that broke the window. Sally collapsed unconscious on the floor. Diego didn't notice until the weight in the hand he was holding increased considerable. Diego turned back to Sally only to find her on the ground, her arm still extended in his hand. He fell to his knees and tried to wake her. Diego became nervous and afraid. He didn't want to lose another member of the Ragsdales.

"Sally? Oh god, Sally! Wake up! Wake up! What's going on?" Diego began to shiver.

The attention of the party-going-town's people was quickly drawn to the pair on the floor. Murmuring passed through each curious onlooker.

Diego's head shoot up to look at them. He franticly glanced around in desperation.

"Well don't just stand there!" he yelled, "Somebody get the doctor! Get Dr, Finkelstain!"

There was some movement in the back of the crowd as people went to fill Diego's command, but the majority just stood there, staring at Sally and Diego, dazed by the situation, and clueless as what to do.

Sally, limp on the floor and thoughtless, kept hearing the last line of her thoughts ringing in her head like an echo, except the thought didn't fade. It just kept replaying over and over again, _the wedding night that will never be mine._

"Oh god," Diego moaned into his sister's hand as he clutched it in his palm, "How can her night get any worse?"

Suddenly, with a crack of lightning and a roar of thunder, the double doors bust open to reveal…


	19. Chapter 19: Running Away

CHAPTER 19

Running Away

Gracie led her man through the double doors into the dark, clear night. Her pace was quick as she directed her Skellington toward the street with him having no idea of her intention, but they slowed down as they left the light of the torches that were stationed on both sides of the doors. Now, they were cloaked by the dark of night; the chances of anyone finding them out here were not likely.

Just as they had walked off the last step of the city hall patio, Gracie heard loud movement. It sounded startled, yet rushed, like multiple beings were scampering away. Gracie abruptly stopped, then shot her head in the direction of the movement, but realized that she was looking to the left of city hall; where a shadow overcast it and stretched at least 10 feet. What ever it was that was hiding there had no reason to leave, because the shadow covered everything it touched like a black, weightless blanket.

Gracie was so absorbed in what the movement in the dark might have been, that she didn't notice someone tugging on her dress sleeve, "Gracie, are you alright?" the voice asked.

"Huh? Oh, yes Jack," she replied. Her voice was distant and she was still focused on the shadow, "But did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"I think something's hiding in the shadow beside city hall. I think…I think it's still there…watching us…"

"Come now, Gracie. It was just a cat…or…" he sneered and started to talking in a teasing tone, "perhaps it was that low-life, Oogieous Bogie, snooping around where his fat ass isn't invited-."

Threatening growling came loud and clear from the giant shadow. Gracie had a feeling that whatever it was didn't like what Jack was saying.

"Don't even joke about that monster, Jack! That's like saying the Devil himself is waiting around the corner! Let's go someplace else."

"Don't be afraid, Gracie. I'll protect you-."

"I mean it, Jack!" Gracie snapped back. Both were surprised by her sudden outburst.

Gracie took a deep breath to calm herself, "Look," she said more gently, "I'm sorry, but can we please go some where else? I…" She turned for a moment's glance back at the shadow. Then lowered her voice to a whisper, "I have a bad feeling about what's back there. Can we please leave?"

From beside Gracie, she felt her man's two loving hands gently grab her shoulders, and lead her away down the street. The two walked down the road for a good ten minutes before Gracie just randomly stopped. Gracie had one lingering question on her mind, and she decided to have it answered, "Jack, are you okay? You're acting…um…differently tonight."

"Is that bad?"

"No! No. Heaven's sakes, no! In fact, I like it." She slowly placed her hand into his, then slipped their fingers together, "I love you Jack," she said in a sexy, half whisper.

"I…I…" he was hesitant.

"Jack?" Gracie's voice was still quiet.

"I…I…"

_If only she knew…_

"I…I love you too…"

"Promise me we'll be together forever."

"Promise?"

"Yes, promise me."

There was an instant flash back in the man's mind.

Jack and Tim were whispering on stage, just before Gracie took him to the dance floor.

"Now listen," Jack whispered to Tim, "remember that favor you owe me?"

"I don't owe you anything. You're the one in debt with favors!"

"Shhhh! Keep your voice down! Well, I'll add this one to my tab. I really need your help!"

"What do you need now?"

"I need you to break up with Gracie for me."

"What! I thought you were mad when you wanted to end you relationship with Gracie, but having me reject her for you is completely insane! And totally out of the question! My fearless brother, what has come over you?"

"I just can't stand to see her brokenhearted. I mean, I still love Gracie, but I'm not in love with her. Do you understand?"

"Well, do you understand I won't do it?"

"Come on! This just might be your only chance to interact with Gracie. If I leave her, cold and heartlessly, she'll never want to see me again, or anything that even looks like me. You, on the other hand, will let her go gently. I know you would, my sensitive, kind brother, who has such a way with words."

"What makes you think that I care about her?"

"I never said that you did," Jack whispered with a smirk.

Tim's blood began rushing to his cheeks. Jack started speaking with more confidence in his whisper and with a devious tone in his voice, "I know you love her. Everybody does. Probably even Gracie herself. But if you ever want to have the chance to have just one intimate moment with my girl, you better take your chance now. Because if I dump her, I'll find a way to make it so that she hates you far more than me," Jack gave Tim a few seconds to soak in his words, "Speak of the devil, here she comes now. She's making her way up the steps," Tim's heart was beating so loud that Jack could faintly hear it, "Go get her, heartbreaker."

Gracie was no less then three feet away now. Tim panicked and pushed Jack away. Gracie smiled at Tim, and held out to him a delicate hand, "Shall we dance?"

"Jack? Jack?" back in reality, Gracie softly spoke the name of his brother.

Tim's spaced out gaze replied with surprised eyes, then he shook his head a little to wake up, "What? Oh, sorry. Gracie…um…uh…

"Please Jack; promise me that we'll be together forever!"

Gracie placed her hands on both sides of Tim's face, slowly pulled him in towards her, and kissed him.

The moment he felt her lush, plump lips touch his, Tim felt an overwhelming happiness surged through his tall body. He was getting the one thing that was always on his mind since he first saw Gracie. Well, maybe not the one thing.

Their kiss ended with a soft smack. Gracie's face was bright and grinning, but her sweet expression turned perplexed when she saw a small tear run down Tim's cheek and over his quivering lip.

"I can't," Tim confessed.

"What?" Gracie was taken back, "But…but…you love me-," Tim's face perked up. He placed a silencing finger on her red lips.

Tim had instantly perceived what he thought to be an ingenious plan. It was actually an impulse one and pretty stupid, but like they say, stupid people do stupid things for love.

"We can't be together here."

"Huh? What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that we run away together, just you and me; right here, right now. Isn't that romantic?"

This Gracie shocked, "More like crazy! What about your friends and family? Do you want them to worry?"

"You're my only friend. My only true friend. My parents are dead. My uncle favors my brother over me. And Jack doesn't care about either of us!"

"Wait a minute. What do you mean Ja-?"

"Gracie, we can't stay in Sleepy Hallow. My brother is forbidding us to ever be together."

"This-this is so sudden! What-what about my family? What about our-our-our-future? What about-?"

Tim grabbed Gracie by the shoulders and rushed in on her lips. He gave her a kiss harder than the last one, but so surprisingly good, her eyes popped open. She gradually felt more calmed, and her eyes slowly closed. Gracie didn't want this moment to ever end.

With a lot of mental convincing, Tim gently grabbed the sides of Gracie's head, and slowly pulled away from her sweet flavor, but he kept her face close to his, to the point their noses touched. He whispered with big eyes and a new, enchanting charm in his voice; a magic that seduced her heart with the power of his love, "Please, Gracie. This is the only way we'll ever be together. I don't want to lose you."

The look in Gracie's glazed. Her transfixed eyes told that she was lost in her emotions. She didn't think another moment about their consequences of leaving or staying. Her eyes told Tim, "Yes, lets run away."

But her lips said, "Where would we go?"

"That's good enough for me, love!" Over ecstatic with joy, Tim kissed her quick, grabbed her hand, and began leading her down the long, dirt off-road. The road traced the edge of town, and then stopped at the cemetery gates. From there, Tim and Gracie went through the gate, past the hedge stones, through the newly planted pumpkins for the season's occasion, around the out-of-place hill that just seemed to be really steep, pointed up, and had no reason for being there; they followed the short trail that led to the forbidden woods, then finally they where to go where no man has gone before; they would venture into the forbidden woods. The trip there was not a silent one. The entire time, Tim and Gracie were collaborating plans for the future.

"You know," Tim replied good-naturedly, "answering all these questions really takes the mystery and fun out of spontaneously running away."

"I know, silly, but we should at least know where we're going."

"Okay, you win. Do you know how the six local villages, including our own, started their own…uhhh…what were they called again?"

"Holidays?"

"Yes, holidays! Do you recall?"

"Of course, it was only five years ago that the mayor decreed our holiday be Halloween, October 31st, the date of your birthday. A day to dress like monsters, scare people, give sweets, play tricks, and-you know the rest. It was your idea, Jack. No one took to it very well at first, except for those scary Ragsdale kids. But you eventually swooned everyone's vote. You have a way of persuading people. What does this have to do with our destination?"

"We're going to Vonderleen, the only town that created and celebrates the holiday, Christmas. We'll drink their eggnog! Touch their snow! Build their snowmen! Play with their toys! And do everything else we've only heard word of! We'll live happily ever after in the town of Vonderleen!"

Tim stopped leading Gracie at the edge of the forbidden woods. He turned to face her and spoke with a wide grin, "I'll even get you that mistletoe I promised."

Gracie smiled back and spoke seductively, "Does that mistletoe come with a kiss?"

The woods that Tim and Gracie stood before contained thousands of skinny trees. Despite their size, a man could get lost for days in these toothpick woods. At the heart of the woods were six trees in a circle; each indicating the direction of a particular town, and each with their own holiday symbol craved into the tree. Who the loser was that had enough free time to go out and do this to the trees was still a mystery.

"Here," Tim gently grabbed Gracie by the forearms and positioned her back to the almost eclipsed moon. Gracie thought the anxious look on his face, and the nervous twitches of his hands were kind of cute. However, she did not suspect what he had in store. The sight of the moon behind Gracie was fascinating; only a sliver of the moon's silver glow was visible now, but Tim was to much too distracted on what he was about to do to focus on that. He wouldn't even have noticed if the world was ending.

_You can do this. _Tim thought to himself. Y_ou've thought about this for a long time._

Tim took one of Gracie's delicate hands in both of his, and then bent down on one knee. Gracie's amusement turned to a positive shock that words couldn't describe when she realized what was coming.

"Gracie, you may need a moment to think this over, but I was ready for this since I first laid eyes on you," Gracie's shock slowly softened into a great deal of happiness. Her stunned expression growing softer with it, "I may seem like a different man than who you knew, but that's a change for the better. If you say yes, I will give all my heart has to give, and all I have to offer. If you say no, then I will still love you more than any other man ever will. And I don't have a ring with me, but…" Tim released Gracie's hand to fiddle with the golden pinky ring he wore on his left hand. It was a ring with the Skellington family crest on it, a skull. Once he unscrewed it from his slender finger, he slide it onto Gracie's finger, which was the same size as his, "this will do for now. When we get to Vonderleen, I'll buy you the most beautiful ring money can buy."

"It is beautiful," Gracie's words were quiet and distant, but her face was radiant and her eyes glistened as she marveled at her new treasure.

"Gracie Maria Sarandon…will you marry me?"

Tim had a lot of doubt in his heart. How could anyone ever love him? No one ever has before. Why would anyone now? Who would want to spend the rest of their life with him? Who would ever-?

"Yes."

"What?" Tim said surprised.

"Yes," Gracie became excited, "I will marry you!"

Tim stood up. Her enthusiasm became mutual.

"You will? Oh, my god. You will! Oh, yes! Yes! Yes! YES!" Tim grabbed up Gracie in his arms and playfully spun around with her, "Oh, I love you Gracie Sarandon."

Gracie's giggles were uncontrollable, and incredibly adorable, "And I love you, Jack Skellington."

Tim stopped. He did not see this coming. He had forgotten all about his alias as Jack. About how much in love Gracie was with his brother, and not with him. Tim felt his arms begin to go limp, and Gracie sliding down his stomach back to the ground. His hearing had gone away; along with what he thought was his sanity. He watched the lips on Gracie's concerned face mouth out the words, 'Jack, what's wrong?' but he herd nothing. Tim felt like it was all over; his whole world had come to an end.

But when the ground suddenly shook, and everything around them started transforming into twisted, weird angles, Tim held Gracie close. Timothy thought that this really was, the end of the world.


	20. Chapter 20: It's Show Time!

CHAPTER 20

"It's Show Time!"

Alone in the dark, the silhouettes of three young children converse; cloaked in the shadow of city hall. They stood huddled together, whispering their next plot, and making sure not to be noticed. Their leader had earlier warned them that if they were to be caught tonight, of all nights, making a nuisance of things, the consequences would be dire, but they never heeded warnings before.

"These costumes are stupid!" whined Lock about his red jumper and rose colored porcelain mask. He assumed he was a demon of some sort, but people were thinking that well before he got his new costume.

"Yeah, Oogieous Boogie didn't exactly spare any expense, but at least mine is roomy," Shock remarked. She started shaking her hips in a hula motion to emphasize the freedom of her plum, witch dress. She also had a porcelain mask that was lime green.

"They're not so bad. Mine's 100 cotton!" Barrel added. His two-piece of long sleeves and pants were baggy and gray with white bones printed on them. He had a porcelain mask that was off white.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel were three…um…unique children. They liked to play with knifes, hooks, guns, blades, fire, matches, poison, and anything else that had a warning label. They were very different from the other, more sophisticated and well-behaved children of Sleepy Hallow. This made half the town's population of kids little troublemakers.

"Hey guys," Barrel said to Lock and Shock. He turned around and stuck his butt out a little too close to his 'friends', "Does this outfit make me look fat?"

Big mistake. Seeing as Barrel's the one that is picked on the most out of the three, you'd think the little idiot would know better.

"No," Shock sneered, "I think it's your fat that makes you look fat!"

Right at that second, with a devious smirk, Lock drew back his left leg and released it with a powerful force against Barrel's ass. Barrel went screaming forward three feet in the air before his face slid in the dirt. He turned back to his friends baffled by such an act, only to see them doubled over with laughter. It was routine; Lock and Shock would trick Barrel, he'd get hurt/embarrassed, they'd laugh at him, he'd get pissed, and finally, he'd attack them.

"Barrel…let…go…can't…breathe!" Lock managed to wheeze while Barrel was chocking him. Lock was struggling to free his windpipe from Barrel's tight grip. Shock was still doubled over with laughter. Agony always entertained her; someone else's agony that is.

"You three KNOCK IT OFF!" yelled a strong, booming voice. Barrel, Lock, and Shock's attention was immediately drawn to the large, looming figure that just approached them, Ooigeous Boogie. At first, fear was on the children's faces, but when the figure's features started to come into focus in the night's darkness, the children became terrified. Oogieous Boogie was a large man. Better to say, a tall, obese man. He wore clothes that were ratty, old, smelly, and complements of the insane asylum he broke out of four days ago.

"What did I tell you about-!"

But the large man didn't finish. He was interrupted when one of the double doors on the town hall creaked open. With the door slightly ajar, a young man and a woman slipped through holding hands.

"It's people!" Barrel said hushed, "Duck in cover!"

The group of four rushed back behind the town hall building. In their haste to escape, each one of them made a loud racket on disregarded party objects. Once the four made it behind the building, Lock, Shock, and Barrel stuck their heads out from around the corner to spy on the strangers.

"Who are they?" whispered Oogieous to the trio. He was so large and had a better chance of being seen by people, that he just stayed behind the wall.

"The woman," replied Shock, "is Lady Sarandon, and she's with a man. I can't tell who he is from over here."

Barrel squinted his eyes, "It's one of the Skellington's. Quick, Gracie's looking at us!"

Oogieous grabbed the three by the back of their costumes and yanked them behind the wall with him.

"That was close," said Oogieous, "If we blow our cover, we won't be able to do the hit."

"This assassination thing, is that all we're here to do?" asked Lock.

Oogieous found this offensive and glared threateningly at him. He spoke in an angry tone, "If we get caught, not only will my self-concocted mission be a failure, but the mayor will have us swinging on nooses by morning! Even if you three only are-what, 10? 11?"

"Shhhh!" Shock unwittingly said to Oogieous. Oogieous didn't like taking orders, especially from one of his "henchmen". He turned his deadly glare to her.

"S-s-sorry, boss," Shock stuttered, "I didn't mean to-but the people are speaking and pointing at us."

The four leaned out their curious ears just past the wall to pick up on the conversation.

"Come now, Gracie," Tim was saying to Gracie, "It was just a cat…or…perhaps it was that low-life, Oogieous Boogie, snooping around where his fat ass isn't invited-."

Oogieous' lip curled, causing saliva to trail from the corners of his mouth. Oogieous' short temper was rising. His gross, chapped lips parted to reveal crusted, yellowed teeth, connected by several threads of glistening slobber. With his gapping mouth unlocked, Oogieous unleashed a gruesome growl. Gracie and Tim could hear it clearly, and Gracie flung herself into Tim's protecting arms. They started speaking again, but none of the four behind the building could hear them this time.

"Hey, look!" Lock said to the other three that were leaning against the wall again, "You're scaring the little twit!"

"Oh," Oogieous became pleased at this, "I'll give that Skellington and his tramp something to be scared of," Oogieous reached his meaty hand behind his back for the large knife holstered in his back pocket. He jerked it out, making a metallic swoosh noise, and held it above is head, "I'll give them something real scary!"

"Mr. Boogie, no!" Shock cried.

She and Lock jumped on Oogieous. They clung to him, one dangling from each arm. They were trying to hold him back, but a man of that size could brush off the children like dirt. Instead he just pretended they weren't even there.

"Mr. Boogie," Shock began to plead, "if you show yourself now, your plan will be ruined! We'll have to go back to the asylum! And-BARREL WOULD YOU GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE?-And, I don't know-HELP!"

"It doesn't matter," Barrel said still peeking around the wall, "It's not Timothy. Obviously it's Jack, because he's courting Lady Gracie. Anyone who's anyone knows what goes on with the Skellingtons."

"Fag," Lock called Barrel under his breath.

"The two are leaving as it is," Barrel finished, "Guess we scared them off."

Oogieous sighed, "You're right. We can't screw up," Oogieous lowered his arms and replaced his knife in his back pocket. Knowing that Oogieous wasn't going to strike, Lock and Shock simultaneously dropped from his arms.

"What now, boss?" Barrel asked, leaving his spy-spot.

Oogieous smirked, "What do you guys say to crashing a party?"

Enthusiastic cheers came from the three kids.

"Good, then gather your stuff. We must prepare."

Oogieous dismissed the children to get their "party supplies" hidden in a large shrub some feet away. Lock, Shock, and Barrel started grabbing as many potentially "fun" things as they could carry; from rubber bands and slingshots, to maces and bear traps.

"What's wrong with your face?" Barrel said to Shock.

"Yeah, I can't see it under all that ugly," Lock cracked.

Shock growled in her throat. Her eyes became slits as she glared at the boys she hated most. With one clean sweep, she swung her mask by the cord across Barrel and Lock's smart mouths.

"Ow!" Barrel rubbed his cheek, "That's not what I meant! I meant that you looked like…like, I guess you were thinking too hard."

"Oh," Shock said a little surprised that Barrel was concerned for her. The three may have hated each other, but they were all each other had, "Well…its just that Gracie girl. I mean, what's so great about her? She's not even all that pretty! Hell, I think she's ugly."

"Is that all you were thinking of?" Barrel replied, "I think she's hot."

Lock sneered, "You know who else is hot? Barrel's mom."

Barrel furiously threw down his bear trap he was holding, "Lock, that is it! That is the last fucking comment you will ever make about my mother, ever again! Do you hear me, asshole? EVER AGAIN!

There was a moment of reflective silence from Lock, "Well…last night, your mom said she liked my fucking comments. She's a very open minded perso-agggghhhhh!"

Barrel had thrown down all his weapons and was on top of Lock, strangling him once again. Shock began to merrily skip circles around the two, chanting, "Death is fun! Death is great! Who's next to die? I can not wait!"

"Cease!" commanded the fearful voice of Oogieous. Immediately the three kids stopped what they were doing. They wouldn't dare disobey Oogieous. Lock, Shock, and Barrel scrambled to their feet. They lined up in a horizontal formation, like soldiers, and stood with their chest high at attention, "Are you little devils ready for some action?"

"Sir, yes sir!" the three replied all together.

"Let's see how many causalities there will be," Oogieous reached deep into his front pocket and retrieved a small pair of old, red dice, "Any number under six means we leave no survivors. Any number over, we'll kill the only one we came for, and torture the rest! There's no losing." 

Oogieous pulled back his arm, and with a curled hand, he released the dice into the air. They seemed to turn slowly, defying gravity, before the dice landed gently on the healthy, springy, green grass. Oogieous leaned over the dice to examine the results. His only light was emitted from the nearly eclipsed moon. It was snake eyes.

Oogieous stood and threw his head back, unleashing a victorious laugh, "Grab your play thing, kiddies. It's show time!"


	21. Chapter 21: Oogieous' Secret

CHAPTER 21

Oogieous' Secret

"I saw people change! I saw sick mutations! Things that I never remembered until I saw this nightmare! I…I…" Jack was losing his voice, caught up in the critical matter, "I…I…I SAW SALLY DIE! I saw several people DIE!"

Sydney was becoming hurt that Jack was taking out his angry feelings on her, "Well, I'm sorry that I don't take this as seriously as you! I have nothing against Sally-I like her so far-but I don't know her. I hardly even know Diego. Speaking of which, when are we supposed to meet up with him again-?"

Suddenly, there was a burst of thunder, and a blinding flash of lightning. The double doors of the city hall flew open with a BANG! The crowd of people around Diego and Sally on the floor turned their heads in the doors' direction. Several gasps went through the crowd as they stared in horror at their unwanted guest. All the town's children (an amount of about 4 or 6) broke into terrified tears.

Diego slowly lifted his head from looking down over Sally, and at the same pace, turned to look at the open doors, "Oh fuck…he's back."

Oogieous Boogie took long, intimidating strides into the building. Lock, Shock, and Barrel fallowed giddy at his heels.

Sydney and her Jack rushed onto center stage to see what was going on. At the sight of the scene, Sydney was baffled. She registered the familiarity of Lock, Shock, and Barrel, but knew better than to tell Jack that she knew them. Instead, she shot her hand over into Jack's and squeezed it hard.

_He would get specious of me if he saw that I wasn't afraid._

Jack was glaring in Oogieous' direction, but when he felt the soft touch of Sydney's fleshy hand clasp his own, his hateful expression became surprised, and his tightened fist had unclenched.

She's depending on me for security again; even after our little spat.

Jack realized this, and smiled.

"Jack!" Sydney's voice broke his thoughts and brought him back into the room.

"Huh? What?"

"That man, he's the one from the ally."

Sydney pointed at Oogieous striding down a cleared path into the center of the room, with both hands behind his back and a grin of sinister approval.

"He's the crazy guy that was swinging around his knife. He tried to kill me!"

"No," Jack corrected her, "it only looked that way."

"SKELLINGTON!" Oogieous roared in the center of the room. Everyone was holding their breath and was stone still; all except for one.

"What do you want?" Diego pushed his way through the crowd to be near Oogieous, "I said, 'What do you want?' Why did you crawl out of the burning pits of Hell to be here, when you know we'll shoot you on the spot?" Diego spoke in a strong, brave voice. He held himself up with confidence, and glared into Oogieous with an intense vehemence.

_Wow. _Thought Sydney. _Is that the same conceded Diego I thought he was?_

Oogieous chuckled, "Go ahead. Find someone valiant enough to shoot."

He took sweeping glances around the room, challenging anyone that dared to volunteer. Then he grinned and held out his arms to the side pretending to be an easy target.

"Find someone stupid enough to shoot me."

Diego turned around to the crowd, desperately searching for a hero. He was alone.

"Diego, stand down. I'm not here for you."

"You're not? Then what are you here for?" Diego had a bad feeling in the pit of his gut.

"I want," Oogeious' voice was lowered to a hushed, disgusted tone, "Timothy Skellington. Where is he?"

"You will never find him, Oogieous. NEVER!" Diego cried defensively.

Just then, there was a loud sound of a toilet flushing in the bathroom. Each person in the room turned their heads to the right wall that was bare of everything but a wooden door; a door that led to the single person washroom. The sound of running water flowed through everyone's ears for a painful few seconds. To Diego, the sound felt like the acid of embarrassment. After those few seconds, the sound was ended by the squeal of rubbing, rusted metal. Living Jack Skellington emerged through the door, wiping his damp hands on his black and white stripped suit top. He was looking down at his hands as he rubbed them dry. Living Jack stopped wiping his hands when he felt this tingling sensation that someone was watching him. Living Jack raised his head and glanced around in confusion from the hundred eyes that were glued to him.

He smiled at them with a nervous laugh, "Eh…you might want to wait a minute before going in there."

Sydney giggled wildly at this, while skeleton Jack tried his damnedest to slam his skull against the brick wall behind her. He had never felt so embarrassed in all his after-life.

"Timothy Skellington, I got a bone to pick with you!" Oogieous said pointing in living Jack's direction.

The fat man's eyes became so intense at the sight of living Jack; you'd swear his little black pupils had ignited with fire! Oogieous took slow, stomping steps in living Jack's direction. He was in no hurry. Oogieous wanted Tim to feel fear. To feel the pain he was about to torture him with. To want death as he gradually dies at his hands. And to watch his friends stare down at him, not daring to be his rescue. Timothy Skellington was gonna pay!

"W-w-wait! W-what have I ever done to you?" Living Jack stuttered.

Oogieous froze. He couldn't have been more shocked if Jack started stripping.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" Oogieous exploded, "I'LL TELL YOU WHAT YOU'VE DONE! YOU RUINED MY LIFE!"

Diego jumped out from the crowd to confront Oogieous, "You ruined your own life by killing my mother; and made things even worse by murdering Lord and Lady Skellington, you twisted bastard! They were innocent people! You had no reason to kill anyone!"

"I had every reason!" Oogieous roared back.

"Being crazy doesn't count as an alibi!" Diego yelled.

"You're mother broke my heart!"

"That's impossible! My mother was a good woman! She was loyal to you!"

"She had sex with Timothy!" his words echoed in the high roof, assaulting the residents with a skeptical shock. Every jaw was dropped, "That's right, she had sex with Timothy Skellington! And I walked in on them!"

"Wow, that was subtle," Sydney said in her sarcastic tone.

Her Jack just shook his head at her, "Sydney, did you even comprehend what Oogieous just said?"

"Sure, your brother had sex with your wife's mom…OH MY GOD! This is some Jerry Springer shi-!"

"Shhhhhhh!" Skeleton Jack hushed her.

The jaws of all the citizens still hung low. Diego's thoughts ran in a rush that caused him to lose control of his breathing.

"Tim…meek, timid…prude Tim? How could he? And…and with my mother! Why? Tim, why!" Diego turned to living Jack with shocked eyes pleading for answers. However, there was nothing living Jack could say that wouldn't blow his cover as Tim. Not like living Jack had any idea what the Hell was going on anyways.

"It was four years ago," Oogieous began. His sudden calm tone, and transfixed look into space as he recalled his traumatizing moments of the past startled the room, "It was this same date, in this same building, of the same boys' birthday party, that I remember the tragedy so vividly. I've been thinking about it in my nightmares for the past four years, snug in my padded room. Just me and my grudge.

"That night of the party, the beer was flowing, the lust was growing, and all anyone wanted to do was swing. So much for the traditional 'pin the tail on the donkey'.

"I came with Miss Ally Ragsdale. She was my fiancé of two months, and lover of three years. I had never loved anyone as beautiful, intelligent, clever, or special as her. I thought that she was the one. I thought that we were meant to be. But I should have thought better.

"It was just Ally and myself that night. Diego and Sally were still pretty young, and we thought it best to just leave them at home with a pack of cards. I had been at the party no more than 5 minutes, and I realized that it was nothing more than a big, drunken orgy in celebration of the Skellington boys turning wild 21. I was appalled that the Skellingtons, people of such sophistication and class, could ever allow this to happen! Everywhere I looked people was either making out, or that idiot, Jack Skellington, was making an ass of himself. However, I respected the Skellingtons, and kept an open mind about the party. But the very moment that old man Mr. Vampure pressed his intoxicated lips to mine; I knew it was time to go.

"I had gotten separated from Ally at our arrival, and began searching for her throughout the building. I had ventured everywhere twice, but it never occurred to me to check in one last room until I saw it. Back then it seemed so obvious! But what she was doing in there, hadn't ever clawed its way into my head."

In a flash, Oogieous shot his head in living Jack's direction and raised an accusing, pointed finger at him, "I went in that last room, Timothy! That very bathroom which you stand before, and have been using for years afterwards, is the very room where I caught you having sex with my love! My Ally!"

Living Jack looked behind him into the cramp, worn, disgrace of a washroom. He wanted to rush into their right now to hurl in the sinful toilet, but flashes of what might have accrued in there, accrued in living Jack's head. His mouth twisted to a sickened frown, and his right eye started twitching.

Oogieous was now facing living Jack full frontal, eyes burning into his, "I killed her that instant. She promised me that she would never love anyone else. NEVER! So, I grabbed her by the head and slammed it against the sink as hard as I willed. Her skull broke to shards. Blood and brains were dripping from the sink, walls, and her broken skull. I attempted to do the same thing to you Timothy, but I slipped in her blood and slide out into the crowd.

"You both were too drunk to see my attack coming. And just moments after, I was apprehended by the authorities and hauled off to Skellington Asylum For The Mentally Disturbed. I didn't even get a fair trial or lawyer! I was locked away for four years in the very thing that brought your family respect and wealth. This sickened me. I attempted suicide every week for the first year, but never succeeded. Finally, I knew what had to be done. I had to escape. My first plan to hold Lady and Lord Skellington hostage during their monthly progress check didn't go so well. When I had them in my position, things got out of hand and…well, I just snapped their necks."

Both Jacks lurched at this, trying to keep in their vomit. Sydney's head shot over to her Jack. He had fallen to the floor, braced up by his knees and one hand, the other curled around his tiny tummy. Jack breathed hard as he thought about the brutal treatment his parents went through while in Oogieous' custody. He didn't remember them, but he could imagine what they went through.

"Two years later," Oogieous went on, "I put my second plan into action. I escaped my containment room, and made it to the exit by bashing the heads of anyone that got in my way. Easy as pie.

"That was your lucky brake, Timothy, so many years ago. But it was also your last."

Oogieous reached into his back pocket, and swiftly retrieved his 6-inch knife. He held it at his head's level, ready for the stab. Oogieous took a slow, haunting pace toward living Jack.

"No!" shouted Sydney. She leapt from the stage, and ran to Oogieous. She slid to a stop in his path, "I wont let you touch him!"

"Sydney, it won't work!" skeleton Jack called to her.

But Sydney ignored him. Sydney ejected her right arm across her body to her belt, where she pulled out her holstered…nothing.

"What! Where's my rod? What's the point of having that stupid thing when I need it and don't have it? I need it now-but where is it!"

"I told you," Jack called back to her, "it wouldn't work. Our weapons didn't come here with us. Besides, you can't touch Oogieous."

"…Oh yeah," Sydney felt so stupid. Suddenly, she felt this sensation surge through her body, like being dropped in a huge glass of ice water. When Sydney wasn't paying attention, Oogieous had walked right through her; causing Sydney's body to ripple for a few seconds. She whirled around to where living Jack was cowered against the wall, but only saw the immense backside of Oogieous.

"What can I do to help you?" Sydney pleaded to her Jack. She felt so useless.

"Just watch," Jack replied, "That's all you can do. Come up here with me. Things are gonna start moving fast, and you don't want to be alone for this."


	22. Chapter 22: Moving Faster

CHAPTER 22

Moving Faster

Oogieous' large frame loomed over living Jack, like a hippo preparing to pounce on it's helpless pray; that would probably be a piece of fruit or something.

_Crap. _Thought living Jack. _I never imagined Tim getting me into this much trouble. Hell, I never thought he would ever get me into any kind of trouble at all, him being the stick-in-the-mud that he is._

Living Jack's eyes bounced back and forth between Oogieous' violent stare and his fatal knife.

_I've got to distract him. I got to slip through his fat fingers. Ohhh, I need a distraction really badly!_

Living Jack saw Lock, Shock, and Barrel scampering around with weapons scaring the living daylights out of as many people as possible.

_Perfect_

"That's a whole new low for you, Oogieous!" living Jack suddenly cried out.

Oogieous stopped, confused, "Huh?"

"Those poor children. You kidnapped them from their homes to perform your bidding. Am I right? Those poor little angels!"

Lock, Shock, and Barrel stopped tormenting the crowd to join Oogieous in a blank stare at living Jack. After three seconds of silent blinking, the four of them broke out in hysterical laughter.

Oogieous was barely able to speak, "Poor children…kidnapped…ANGELS!" His laughter came out even harder.

_Just as I planned._

Living Jack leapt high into the air, thrusting out his leg, and twisting his torso to make his body spin. Living Jack's spinning-high-kick to Oogieous' head made him chock on his laughter as it turned to moans of pain. Living Jack did the same kick again, this time sending Oogieous spilling onto the floor. With a cruel smile and a wink at Oogieous, Living Jack did front flips over the large man's body and into the center of the room.

"Whoa!" Sydney's eyes popped wide. Her breath was taken by this astonishing scene of random ninja-ness, "How did you learn awesome stuff like that, in a crap town like this!"

"From what I can remember, the year before, my cousin-in-law had come through town for a few months and showed me some moves. I believe his name was…Jackie…Chan?"

"COOLNESS! You're related to the famous Chinese action star, Jackie Chan!"

"What? The Jackie Chan I knew was French.-"

"Shut up. Look what's going on," Sydney pointed to living Jack. He was standing in the center of the room with one hand holding the top of Shock's head, the other holding her under her chin.

"Ooigeous!" living Jack called to him, "Get your ugly carcass out of my town right now! Or," living Jack made a slight twisting motion with his arms and Shock's head, "I'll snap the little witch's neck! You have 'til the count of five to be out of those doors if you want to save her."

Shock looked at Oogieous with big puppy dog eyes, but when she realized whom she was pleading her life to, she desperately began scratching at living Jack's arms.

Oogieous slowly pulled his bulk up, spat blood on the floor, and wiped the droplets of it from his mouth, all while chuckling in his throat, "Snap the little witch's neck? By all means, do! That'll be one less problem I'd have to worry about."

The surprise of this to living Jack caused him to loosen his grip on Shock a little, "You sick bastard."

"Oh please, kid. If you knew these monsters you'd being seeing things my way."

"But…but they're children!"

"Which makes it all the more easier for them to commit a crime. You don't even know how I picked up these little pain-in-the-necks."

"Well that would probably be because I don't ca-."

"While I was escaping the asylum, I was stopped by these little devils in the children's ward. The really loony kids thrive there. As I was running, I fell into one of their contraptions made from bed poles and forks. That thing hurt like a bitch! It was intended for no one in particular, but I just so happened to have gotten caught in it. The little runts figured I was on the run and being successful in escaping. So they wouldn't let me go unless I took them with me. Time was growing short, and so was my patience. I agreed to take them in, and haven't been able to get rid of them since," living Jack processed all this while still holding Shock's head, "You want to snap her neck? Go ahead, let her rip."

Living Jack thought a few seconds more. He let go of Shock.

"I wont kill her. I hadn't planned on it. But I wont let you kill me," living Jack got into a fighter's stance, "Not without a fight!"

Oogieous smirked, "I thought this might happen," he put his hand in the air and snapped, "Plan B, boys."


	23. Chapter 23: Plan B

CHAPTER 23

Plan B

From the edge of the crowd, Lock and Barrel dragged Sally's limp body to Oogieous.

Diego cried out at this unexpected sight, "What the Hell!" He turned around, searching frantically on the floor for Sally, "How'd you do that? I only turned away for a second."

"That's just how good my kids are," Oogieous gave a small pat on the back to Lock and Barrel on either side of him. They flashed big, cavity-filled smiles.

"Now," Oogieous grabbed up Sally under the arms and held her at his shoulder's height. Her small frame didn't take Oogieous any effort to support, "Things are about to get very entertaining," with one arm wrapped around Sally's chest, Oogieous held his knife to her slim neck, "Diego, come before me."

It wasn't the order that made Diego reluctant to move, but the commander. Yet, he stepped out of the crowd anyway, teeth gnashed.

"Boys," Oogieous went on, "give them their weapons," Lock and Barrel dashed away to their weapons pile. The return was quick. One boy went over to either living Jack or Diego, and in exchange for their virginal swordsmanship, gave them a sword. The blades were light; thin as paper, but more deadly than any plague. Living Jack and Diego held up their weapons with confusion. Diego examined his sword closely to see if this was some kind of a trick.

"What is this all about?" Diego asked Oogieous with suspicion.

"It's a game," he replied, "If you win, Sally lives. If you lose, she dies. Simple."

Diego got a little nervous. His eyes traveled down form his sword to his "game piece".

"How…how do I win?" Diego asked already having an idea of the answer.

Oogieous trailed the blunt side of his knife across the flab of his neck, making a juicy slicing noise from his mouth. Then he pointed the knife at living Jack.

"Whoa!" living Jack stepped back. He started tugging at his collar, "You-you don't mean kill me, do you?"

"You're gonna pay, Timothy Skellington. One way or another," Oogieous said.

"But-but I…" living Jack was shaking nervous, "I didn't think you were-"

Suddenly, living Jack was punched in the side of the head. Diego pulled back his clenched fist from where he had hit living Jack in the jaw. Diego positioned both his hands on the sword handle, and raised the blade high. Diego slashed down, but living Jack's own weapon deflected it. Living Jack used the force of his sword to push Diego away.

"Stop this, Ragsdale!" living Jack commanded.

"Sally's life is on the line here. When it comes down to either you or her, she wins by a land slide," Diego spat back.

Living Jack paused, "…who?"

Yelling with fury, Diego chased living Jack with his sword. Their swash-buckling battle had begun. The metal clinked, and the blood was shed. Oogieous chuckled in grim satisfaction. Everyone in the room was so consumed by living Jack and Diego's, duel that no one saw Sally's right eye peeking through a slit in her eyelids.


	24. Chapter 24: Sally's Turn

CHAPTER 24

Sally's Turn

Keeping her body inconspicuously limp, Sally shot her right hand to Oogieous' knife. Oogieous was too consumed in the sword fight to keep his grip. The knife slipped easily form him as Sally grabbed the handle, spun the knife to be blade down, and then thrust the cold steel into Oogieous soft, saggy, gut. Oogieous released her, and his arms automatically flung to his wound. He staggered to the floor with his blood pouring between the cracks of his fingers. Oogieous was too startled to scream. Sally dropped to her knees and rapidly stabbed Oogieous in his stomach. Sally grind her teeth tighter with each rhythmic plunge of her knife. Oogieous' blood had flooded into his windpipe, silencing his screams into sick gurgles. Sally continued to stab him until his movements were nothing more than involuntary nerve spasms. A little out of breath, Sally stood up over Oogieous' body. Her black lace sleeves, and the entire front of her dress were blood drenched. She quivered a little as she stared down at the mutilated corpse before her.

"Bastard," was uttered from her lips.

In a mechanical motion, Sally turned towards the circular clearing of the crowd, where living Jack and Diego were dueling. What Sally saw next drove her to do the most impulsive thing she had ever done.

"No!" Sally's yell cued her next move. With a single lunge forward, Sally threw her knife by the blade. It spun in radical motion until it slide smoothly into the young man's back.


	25. Chapter 25: Sally's Target

CHAPTER 25

Sally's Target

The fight between living Jack and Diego carried on for several heart-pounding minutes. Both men's skills were at an equal, but finally the duel was being brought to a close.

Diego swung his sword, jumped, and high-kicked living Jack square in the ribs. Living Jack was winded. He dropped his sword and landed hard as he fell on is back. Diego seized the moment by jumping on living Jack. He landed with one knee on the ground and the other buried in living Jack's chest. Living Jack was unarmed. He tried to hold up Diego's weight by pushing up Diego's knee. But Diego was too strong and too heavy; living Jack was neither of these.

Diego's absurd smile formed with the thought of a bloodthirsty vengeance.

"Since Jack broke my sibling's heart, I'm gonna do the same to him," Diego said to living Jack.

All living Jack could do was stare up at him with big, helpless eyes; just like everyone else in the room. Diego brought up his sword in both hands, flexed his arms for a fatal slice, and then…he froze. Diego made a gagging noise as he chocked. His eyes were as open as living Jack's, full of shock. Diego's arms quivered to an extent that he dropped his sword beside living Jack's head. Diego's gags became gurgles as blood and saliva began to stream from his mouth. Diego's arms swung to his side. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his body fell forward onto living Jack's face. Living Jack heaved Diego's dead carcass aside to see what had just happened. He saw standing in Diego's back a long, bloodstained knife. Then he noticed something in the distance. His eyes adjusted to look a few feet further, where Sally was posed to have just thrown a dagger-like weapon.


	26. Chapter 26: Is This The End Of The

CHAPTER 25

"Is This The End Of The World?"

Above the city hall, above the graveyard, and above the woods, the sun and the moon were nearly one. Despite the sun's presence, the sky was pitch black. The coming eclipse was only three seconds away…two seconds…one second…complete. Right then, thunder clapped, the winds howled, and dark magic filled the air. The winds began to swirl. They swirled faster and faster, creating numerous whirlwinds throughout Sleepy Hallow. Some of the whirlwinds split into two or three more, traveling through the air to the other towns. Everything began to change.

_Is this the end of the world?_ Thought Tim.

As his fear grew, so did his embrace on Gracie. The scenery around the couple started to transform into twisted, dark themes.

"Jack! Don't let me go! Please, don't let me go!" Gracie cried to Tim.

"No," Tim said to her, "I'll never let you go."


	27. Chapter 27: The Death Of Jack And Sally

Chapter 27

The Death Of Jack And Sally

Living Jack stared horror-stuck at Sally. She could hardly believe her own impulsive action.

"Help me," she strained to utter.

Living Jack rolled Diego's corpse off of him, and then rushed to Sally side. He stood before her for a few seconds of silence. Everyone was silent, then startled when Sally spontaneously hugged living Jack around his neck. He was at first clueless in how to respond to this unexpected gesture. He hardly knew this girl, yet he had a strong connection with her. Slowly, he brought up his arms around Sally's small back. She hugged him tighter, releasing a warm, fuzzy feeling throughout his body. The crowd stared in awe.

Living Jack whispered to her, "Why did you do it?"

He'd meant to say thank you, but it had refused to be said. Subconsciously he wanted to know, 'Why Tim over Diego?'

"Because I love you more than life itself…Jack," Sally whispered back.

Living Jack gasped, "How did you know it was me?"

"Because my heart told me."

Sally and living Jack held each other face-to-face. Living Jack's heart pounded in his chest. He felt his blood rush like never before.

Slowly, Sally drew her face close to Jack's. There was a moment of hesitation, and then he made his way towards hers.

"We should probably go now," Skeleton Jack nudged Sydney, but she was too into the moment. She nearly tore Jack's head off with annoyance.

"No! Let me see this! This is better than a movie!"

"Please Sydney, haven't you seen enough?-" Sydney pressed her hand hard against Jack's thin mouth.

Living Jack reached Sally's lips, the sweetest things he'd ever tasted. After a moment of true bliss, the taste in living Jack's mouth went from heavenly to bitter. He gently pulled away from her. Sally didn't protest. Instead, her lip quivered, and her eyes became glassy. Like some sick prophecy, Sally's blood began to stream delicately down her bottom lip. Living Jack placed a bracing hand on the back of her head. He gently rested her head on his shoulder. Her weight gradually became heavier to support. Her body finally went limp. Sally was dead.

Holding her up with one arm, living Jack used the other hand to brush the hair off the back of her neck. Untangled from the raven hair was a circular razor lodged half way into the back of Sally's neck. Living Jack could feel the blood from her wound trickle down back of her dress, and over his fingers. He looked to where Oogieous' corpse had been sprawled. Instead, Oogieous was looking directly at living Jack, laughing a crazed laugh. The veins in Oogieous' eyeballs had broken, causing his eyes to be a pure, blood red.

"Like I said, Timothy, you're gonna pay. One way or another," Oogieous began to chuckle a blood gurgled laugh. Then the laughter became louder, and louder, until his laughter was hysterical and booming.

Just then the ground began to shake. The foundation of the building started to wave.

"What the Hell?" Oogieous said after he abruptly stopped his laughing.

"OH MY GOD!" a man in the crowd yelled, "My hands! Look at my hands!"

The man held up his hands for the crowd to see. What were once strong, tanned, working hands were now skinny gray claws, with six inch yellow nails.

A woman in the crowd felt a tingling in her chest. She fearfully brushed her fingers down from her neck to her breast. She felt scales. The woman let out a blood-curdling scream that sent the entire room into a panic. People were ripping off their porcelain masks, and tearing away their clothes to examine themselves. Everyone was mutating.

Without any open doors or windows, a gust began to build in the middle of the room; an indoor tornado was brewing. The winds pulled people off their feet, flying some into the air like kites.

Living Jack had sat down on his legs with Sally's head resting in his lap. They were in the safest place in the building, the eye of the tornado. Yet, fear, anxiety, nausea, pain, heartache, and so many sick feelings flooded living Jack. He softly gazed down at Sally. Tenderly, he stroked her hair behind her small ear. The blood had drained from Sally's face, leaving her skin to be an ashy-gray tent. She was still just as beautiful as before. Only this time, Jack noticed it. Sweet melancholy tears of remorse ran from living Jack's eyes, over his cheek, and lightly dropped on Sally's lips.

The winds were drawing in closer with each second; they sent a magical, growing sensation through living Jack, one that he could just barely feel in Sally as well. Lifting her head, living Jack gently removed the razor from the back of Sally's neck. He looked at it with dull eyes. His emotions were too worn to have any expression.

With one finale glance at Sally, he pushed back a lock of her hair. He positioned the razor directly over the blue veins in his wrist.

In a monotone voice, living Jack uttered the last words he would ever speak…in this life.

"See you soon."

Living Jack slashed the razor across his wrist. His skin broke apart instantly. Red, thick blood poured from his cut, creating a puddle on the floor and on Sally. Living Jack could feel his life rushing away with his blood. Then, it stopped bleeding. Blinded by the wind that had just swallowed them up, living Jack missed the entire phenomenon that had happened next. The flesh around the suicide wound flaked into dead skin. It sluggishly started to peel away. For every bit of skin that fell off, bleached bone was exposed. The skin's peeling pace began to quicken. The skin peeled off everywhere. The shedding traveled up his body until the very last skin cell escaped his face. Living Jack was no longer living.


	28. Chapter 28: Who To Fail?

Chapter 28

Who To Fail?

Sydney saw from the stage living Jack holding Sally. Sydney stood strong and ridged. She tried to fight off her tears, but the stinging in her eyes and nose was too intense. Her vision blurred by excess of water in her eyes. She thought that she must have given into sympathy.

Sydney turned to her Jack with depressed eyes, but he wouldn't look at her. His face was grave as he glared out at his past.

Sydney didn't know exactly how to say it, but knew it should be said, "Jack…I'm sorry. I didn't know it would turn out like this."

He took a deep breath, "I said for us to go. But you-"

"OH MY GOD!" a man cried out from the crowd, "My hands! Look at my hands!"

A woman screamed and the whole building went into a panic.

"What the Hell?" exclaimed Sydney.

"The dream," said Jack forgetting his grudge, "it's ending. We've got to leave, NOW!"

"Right," Sydney said with a trace of guilt.

She reached for skeleton Jack's hand that was extended openly to her, but Sydney was suddenly pulled out from under her feet. The tornado had picked up Sydney, hurtling her through the air.

"JAAAAAAAA…" Sydney's scream trailed off as she was flung into the wind.

"SYDNEY!" Jack called back to her. The frightened commotion of the room made finding Sydney impossible.

_No!_ Jack's thoughts screamed. _Where is she? There's no time!_

Jack looked at his surroundings. Everything began to ripple like a liquid picture.

_I can either leave to save myself and have the dream implode Sydney's head, or…_ Jack looked into the tornado. _I could kill myself by jumping in after her. What do I do? Fail Sydney? Or fail Sally?_


	29. Chapter 29: You Are The Voice Inside My

Chapter 29

You Are The Voice Inside My Head

Sydney knew she was close to death as she swirled in the wind and through mutants. She constantly felt herself rippling as she passed through each creature. Figuring this was the end for her, Sydney stopped screaming, took in a deep breath, and then released.

She said in her mind: _This is it. You failed. Game over, man. Game over! At least when I die, maybe it won't hurt too much. _

Suddenly, Sydney's head started throbbing. She clenched her teeth and her hands to her head.

_Shizit! What the crap was that? That hurt like a bitch!_

_Who you calling a bitch? _A sultry, British man voice asked from within her head.

Sydney's eyes bugged out. _Who's there? Who's in my head? _Her brain throbbed some more.

_Wouldn't you like to know? Now let me go!_

Sydney felt like her skull was being punched. Her head pained from something trying to brake out from the inside. The tension wouldn't ease up.

"STOP IT!" she yelled aloud, "STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! Grrrrrr….JACK! JACK! JAAAAAA-"

Sydney was grabbed under the arms by a hard, stiff arm. A bony hand grabbed the top of her head firmly. The pounding tension in her head began to subside. In a way, it felt like the tension was being released. Sydney saw a bright glowing, red light eliminate just above her head.

"Jack?" Sydney muttered.

Everything Sydney saw around her flashed white.


	30. Chapter 30: Jack's Arrest

Chapter 30

Jack's Arrest

Lock, Shock, and Barrel were hiding behind crates, spying on Sydney and Jack.

"I can't tell you about the nightmare," Jack was saying to Sydney, "because there's too much detail. It would just be a lot easier if I showed it to you."

Jack placed his hand on Sydney's head. A flash of red light under his palm indicated that they had entered the nightmare.

"Sooooo…" Lock began, "how long do you think they'll be at it for?"

Like a bomb, Jack and Sydney were flung back several feet through the air in opposite directions by a blazing red orb. They both landed hard, sliding against the dirt road. Lock, Shock, and Barrel stared in awe as the red orb took a bolder sized form and rocketed into the sky. It flew into the clouds, disappearing into nature's white fluff.

"Duuuuuuudddde," Barrel breathed.

"Look," Shock pointed to Sydney and Jack's still bodies, "Now's the perfect time for the meeting."

"The what?" asked Lock.

"The meeting," Shock reminded him, "that Shadow wanted between us and Sydney. She said that she had something for her."

Lock pointed over to Jack, "Now we just have to get rid of old bones over there."

"Got any ideas?" Barrel asked.

"Just one," Lock said.

He rushed out to the street where the crowd was still huddled around the blonde pilgrim woman. She was conscious now, standing dazed while she held her forehead.

Lock ran into the middle of the street, "Hey!" He yelled to the crowd, "The hit and run guy's over here! He's drunk and unconscious, so we can kick him!"

The mob of concern suddenly became the mob of insane anger as the people left the blonde woman alone in the street, and ran past Lock into the ally.

Jack's body was sprawled before them on his stomach. Sydney was flat on her stomach too, a few feet further away.

"Is this the culprit?" an Indian asked.

A big, intimidating man at the front of the mob examined Jack's frail body for a moment. He had made his conclusion, "Sure, why not?"

That was good enough for them. The crowd yelled insults and kicked Jack while he was down, even though he wasn't fully awake. The men picked up Jack on their shoulders, and then the mob made a quick exist. It was all over just as Sydney woke up.

"Jack…Jack?" her voice was cracked. With effort and some pain, Sydney struggled to her feet. All was quite. Not even the wind blew. There was no noise except for the sound of Sydney's heavy breathing…and footsteps. Someone was calmly approaching the ally.

"Jack?" Sydney called to the source of the noise.

Louder and louder the footsteps became. They rounded the corner off the street and into the ally. It was a woman, her arms swinging gently by her sides as her long legs took seductive strides in Sydney's direction. Her smile was big with lowered eyebrows, making her expression sinister. She was the blonde pilgrim woman Jack had hit a few minutes ago.

"Sydney…" the woman spoke while walking. A sudden green flame engulfed her entire body, and then magically extinguished seconds later. Unharmed by the heatless fire, the pilgrim was gone. Now, the lady was dressed in a skimpy black leather bikini, thigh-high black leather boots, black leather gloves that extended to her elbows with the finger slots cut off, and a blood red jewel fastening the breast cups of her bikini. She was some kind of sexy demon with big, bat-like wings, and two small black horns protruding from the top of her wavy, waist-length, raven hair. Her skin was unfittingly pale for such a dark themed creature.

The demon stopped three feet in front of Sydney, hip popped to the side with her hands planted on them, "…we need to talk."


	31. Chapter 31: You Were The Voice Inside My

CHAPTER 31

You Were The Voice Inside My Head

Jetting through the air, the red glowing orb seemed to be making all attempts to resist gravity. It shot through the gray clouds of Thanksgiving Town like a flaming rouge comet. Eventually physics took its toll; the red orb began spinning down to Earth. With each rotation, the red gassy tail of the orb spat pink and purple sparks. It made an unconventional whizzing noise all the way to the surface. It's landing was bomb loud, leaving a creator some eight feet deep in the ground.

Dust was risen as a result of the crash. It swirled and covered the glowing red orb until the object's red gleam became dimmer, and dimmer, and finally extinguished. The swirling dirt began to settle once again. Dramatically the dust fell to reveal a man curled on his side, knees hugged up to his chest.

The man was clothed in a long black leather jacket, a loose button up red shirt, a tight black under shirt, tight black pants, and large black leather boots. His eyes were closed. His breathing was steady. Seconds went by. His eyes shot open. His big, beautiful dead eyes were now open. Slowly, he released his legs and stretched out his body while still laying in the crater. Then the man slowly sat up. He still couldn't believe that this was real; that he was real!

The man braced himself with the sides of the crater to stand up, but not for long; the dirt was still hot. He looked up to the edge the hole. It was about a little less than two and a half feet above him. He sneered.

_No problem._

Crouching down, the man easily jumped ten feet up and out of the hole. He landed with a thud.

_Easy._

The pale man stood 5'7''. He sneered again and ran his fingers through his short, bleached hair. He was a very handsome man with a mysterious aura about him. Better yet, he was a very sexy man with cool gothic clothes. He looked around at the surrounding toothpick trees, giving in with great satisfaction the fact that this was all real.

He smiled his heart throbbing, fang-protruding smile, and said in a sultry British accent, "Well, well, look out world! Big bad is here!"


	32. Chapter 32: Meeting Shadow

Chapter 32

Meeting Shadow

The demon stopped three feet in front of Sydney, hip popped to the side with her hands planted on them, "…we need to talk."

Sydney studied the demon for a moment. Her eyes casually traveled the she-creature's body. This was their first time meeting.

Sydney didn't know what else to say, "So…you must be Shadow."

"Yes," the demon replied, "The one and only."

"Oogie told me I would eventually run into you. Nice job bagging Raggedy Anne. But I never met her myself, so I wouldn't exactly know how much of a fight this Sally girl was."

Shadow glared. She took offense to that, "She was simple enough to apprehend. But the fact remains that I got my job done, like I always do. Can I say the same for you…what was it…Sydney?"

This time Sydney glared. She crossed her arms and popped her hip in a badass attitude pose, "I'm doing just fine, thank you very much. I'm leading Jack on like a blind puppy; loyal and clueless."

Shadow's glare now added a sneer, "Excellent. I'll report to Oogie Boogie that all of his operatives are cooperating and that all is going according to plan."

"Trippy," Sydney remarked as a confirmation.

Shadow gracefully turned on her heel and headed away from Sydney. The red jewel on her bikini began to spark inside its crystal self.

"Wait!" Lock cried as he jumped up from behind the crates he had retreated to once again from the mob. He scurried over to Shadow and Sydney, waving his arms excitedly as he motioned Barrel and Shock to fallow him.

"What?" Shadow asked slightly annoyed.

"Just wait," Lock begged, "I think I just thought of a plan! No, wait…" Lock thought for a second, "That's not what it is, but it's but it's important for Oogie Boogie to know. I thought of…ummm…leads! Yeah, that's what they're called! Just give me a moment to discuss this with—"

"Thing One and Thing Two," Sydney said with a grin. She just couldn't keep quiet when there was a perfect opportunity to add a sarcastic remark.

Lock starred at her blankly, "Errrrrr…okay."

Lock gathered up Barrel and Shock into a huddle, where he began whispering his thoughts. Shadow looked over to Sydney, Sydney looked back at her, and they shared the same look of, "We're gonna be here awhile. Might as well grab a set". Both girls advanced over to the stack of crates and pulled one out to sit upon. They sat there with a few seconds of awkward silence.

_Well, this is…quiet._ Sydney thought. _Us both being a so called "lackey" for Oogie Boogie, you'd think we'd have more to talk about. Well, I've always been one to start conversation..._

"Soooo…how did you get that funky nightmare of the holiday worlds' past? Did you watch it from Hell or something? You know, you being a demon and all?"

"No," Shadow said in a mellow tone, "Believe it or not, but I was once a human; very beautiful, actually. Can't say much has changed since then."

Sydney started to get real interested, "So, were you there?"

"Yes, I was there. I was rich, fancy, and crazy in love! My relationship was a romance more hot than the fires of the stars. I'll never forget that man," Shadow was speaking in a daze of remembrance. She smiled as she gazed off into the sunny sky. This was the first time Sydney had seen Shadow resemble something even close to being human happiness. Of course, Sydney hadn't known her long, but she figure that there weren't too many moments like this one anyways.

"Wow," Sydney breathed, "Sounds magical."

Sydney had the urge to say something stupidly sarcastic that would ruin Shadow's mood, but managed to contain herself. She really wanted to hear her story.

"A gorgeous, sweet man," Shadow continued, "Our love was forbidden by his family. So we ran away. We ran as far as we could until…" Shadow paused for a moment, reflecting. Her happiness was becoming dampened by her repressed memories, "I thought it was the end of the world. I was scared—no, frightened," Shadow's eyes began to water, but she was tough. She wasn't going to let a little thing like bad break-ups get her down. She discreetly wiped her few tears with the back of her hand, "He promised so much. He promised to never let me go.

Sydney was overflowing with sympathetic awe, "What happened?"

Shadow let the question hang for a moment, "He let me go. The winds pulled us into the forbidden woods. We were pulled through the branches and hitting each tree that came in our way with great speed. It was almost like falling. Eventually, my dress became snagged on a hooked branch. I was torn from the arms of my lover as he was sucked even deeper into the woods. There was nothing I could do to help him…or to help myself when a heavy branch came soaring out of nowhere at my head. I died just as he disappeared."

Shadow's jaw tensed and gripped a hand on her red jewel. It seemed to give her some kind of relief, or power to over come her loss. It had been along time since Shadow had even attempted to think of her Skellington.

Sydney gasped, "Gracie?"

Shadow nodded, "I remained a melancholy spirit of the town. I saw all, but none saw me. I was a ghost to the ghost. Because I died in the woods, I had no town to claim me. I choose to stay in Sleepy Hallow, drifting around, because it was still my home. I saw everything from the beginning. I saw the newly changed residents rebuild themselves. They created a society based on their holiday and they never got bored with it. The town name changed, but everything else was kind of the same."

Sydney was giddy with curiosity. She was crouched on her crate like a monkey, "But weren't they upset to be changed all of a sudden? To be deprived of a choice?"

Shadow shook her head, "From the moment their transformation became complete, everyone just forgot. They forgot everything. It think that crazy storm had the side effect of amnesia. All that they had left from before was their vibes."

Sydney took in a breath to ask, but Shadow answered first.

"Vibes are the signals you can read off people. Like if you just know someone is hiding something, or if someone's in love—"

"Or if someone's gay!" Sydney chimed in.

Shadow just ignored her, "I personally couldn't read the vibes because I was deader then dead to them. The vibes the residents read off of each other told them where their place was. Some things were forgotten in the process, but for the most part, their lives resumed and that's how everything came to be."

Neither one spoke after that. The awkward silence between them had become a hundred times more silent and a hundred times more awkward.

_Great._ Sydney thought. _Nothing like a trip down Repressed Memory Lane to make you want to break a few veins open. I should try to take her mind off this._

"What's that?" Sydney pointed to Shadow's red jewel that she was clutching, "It's beautiful."

Shadow looked down at her jewel. Oogie Boogie himself gave it to her. After Jack had killed Oogie in his lair, Oogie's soul stayed in the astral world, even though it should have disintegrated. When he found Gracie floating around one day, Oogie made a deal with her. If she would work for him on his master plan to avenge himself, she'd get to live again. Gracie agreed and Oogie constructed her the red jewel from his energy. As long as she wore it she'd be alive. But the life of the crystal gave her a new life to live by; Gracie became a huntress demon named Shadow.

"Thanks," Shadow replied to Sydney's comment, "This thing means the world to me."

Shadow looked to the three little monsters huddled together in conference. It didn't seem that they would be done any time soon. Shadow got up from her crate.

"Well I got a job to do."

Sydney got up too, "What do you mean? Did you get a call from Oogie?"

"No, but I saw a potential for a new recruit."

"Who? Surely not someone from Thanksgiving Town?"

"I don't know who exactly," Shadow paused. She eyed Sydney up and down. She knew Sydney would have the answer, "But maybe you can help me find out," Shadow began walking a slow, interrogating circle around Sydney, "Tell me about yourself, Sydney. Have any monsters that thrive in your nightmares? Any friends you imagine having? Any hotties you fantasize about that leave you feeling…wet?" Shadow giggled, but it sounded devious.

Sydney was getting uncomfortable and slightly annoyed by Shadow's interrogation.

"Just what are you implying?" Sydney asked with a raised brow.

Shadow kept circling Sydney, "There was a dream orb that shot out of either yours or Jack's head a few minutes ago," Shadow had a slight shiver at Jack's name, "I saw it from the street. That orb was probably produced because you two were in a dream for too long. And when you're in a dream for too long, your mind confuses what's real and what's not; inevitably opening a doorway in your mind for dream fragments to walk in and out of. Even fragments from completely different dreams," Shadow stopped pacing. She put her hands on her hips and continued circling Sydney in the other direction, "I'm thinking the orb came out of your head. You seem more lonely than Jack," another shiver, "and more desperate for friends. So you just make them up."

Sydney flinched. She acted annoyed by Shadow's hash accusations, but really she felt stung by the truth.

Sydney crossed her arms, "I don't have imaginary friends."

"That's not what I was asking," Shadow corrected, "I want to know which dream fragment of yours seems most real to you."

"Well…" Sydney began to ponder. She felt stupid doing this, but just decided to humor the demon anyway, "I do fantasize about a certain guy."

Shadow was interested, "Oh! Do go on."

Now Sydney was becoming embarrassed more than anything else, "Details? Well, there's not much to say."

"What does he look like?" Shadow said sneering. She stopped walking next to Sydney and braced her elbow on Sydney's shoulder, resting her head in her hand. Shadow was just feeding off of Sydney's embarrassment.

Sydney tried hard to sound cool, "He's my ideal guy: pale yellow hair, fair skin, black duster, tall, tone, pretty eyes, English accent, a bad-ass attitude, and pearly white fangs. All equivalents of true sexiness.

"Hmmmm…a vampire?" Shadow guessed.

"Not a vampire," Sydney corrected, "The vampire. Only the hottest thing dead or alive! You haven't breathed until he's taken your breath away."

"Have you dated this vampire?" Shadow asked with astonishment.

Sydney snorted, "I wish! He's a fictional character on my favorite TV show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I watch TV only for that show," Sydney's expression became dreamy, "Man, I would give anything to make him real."

A smile spread across Shadow's slim face. It was a good-natured smile, but somehow all Shadow's smiles came out looking evil. Must be a demon thing.

Shadow came close to Sydney's ear. She figured that this vampire was obviously the one that came out of Sydney's head. The demon whispered lightly, "You may be closer than you think."

Sydney sucked in a surprised breath of air.

Shadow sneered and stepped away. While Sydney was left contemplating Shadow's whisper, Shadow lowered her hand into her boot and pulled out a six-inch-long, brown, turkey feather. Shadow spun it between her thumb and index fingers.

"This, deary, is your leg up," Shadow said, "I swiped this from his majesty's royal tush. Take it," Shadow extended the turkey feather to Sydney, "You're running out of time."

Sydney obeyed, and then spun the feather in the same fashion as Shadow, "I don't even remember how long I've been here. It's only been like a day, I think. I left Earth on…October…20th. So I still have like…nine or ten days, right?"

"No," Shadow said firmly, "You've been going to different towns and losing track of time. Here," Shadow reached into her other bootleg and retrieved a small, blue object. When Shadow extended the object to Sydney, flat in her open palm, it looked like a smooth stone in the shape and size of a pocket watch; perfectly round, and was a glossy color of pure ocean blue, "I think you'll need this more than me."

Sydney blankly looked at the stone for a moment, then into Shadow's eyes. With suspicious locked eyes, Sydney took the stone.

"What is this?" Sydney asked.

"It's a count down clock. Just briskly run your palm over the top of the stone to see how much time you have until midnight of October 31st; the end of the 30th and the beginning of the 31st."

Acknowledging this, Sydney broke her stare on Shadow and ran her hand over the stone. On its surface, numbers and words appeared in gold, italic calligraph421 BT font. At the bottom of the stone's surface read Seconds: 33. Hours: 12. Minutes: 45. And at the top, Days: 6.

The numbers didn't change like a digital clock would, but the Seconds read 25 the second time Sydney swiped her palm. After a moment the inscriptions disappeared.

Sydney looked down at the stone resting calmly in her hand. She was a little nervous when she saw the amount of time left.

"I really only have six days to get the rest of the holiday stuff?" Sydney asked.

"You're about half way through your journey. This should be plenty of time."

Shadow turned her heel and began walking away from Sydney toward the street. Her red jewel sparked inside and shot one of the sparks out a few feet ahead. From that spark spiraled out a green portal. Shadow began to step through it.

"Wait," Sydney called to her, "What if I run out of time?"

But it was too late; Shadow had already stepped into the portal. It spiral inward to a close once she was inside it.

Sydney stared off in a few minutes of silence. She looked back down at the stone, and then slipped it into one of the breast cups of her bra. The Indian costume she was wearing didn't have any pockets. While Sydney tried to stick her turkey feather in the back of her fake animal skin bandana, she noticed the little huddle between Lock, Shock, and Barrel had broken.

"What were you three talking about over there?" Sydney asked.

"No time to talk," Lock replied in a hurried tone, "This is hot news we need to report to Oogie Boogie!" Lock turned to his other two teammates, "Let's go around the corner guys to deliver the news."

Shock agreed, "Its best we don't leave our unconscious bodies alone and stranded."

And with that, the three jogged off in the opposite direction of the street to the other end of the ally. They passed by Sydney in their hast. Barrel skidded to a stop a few feet from her while Lock and Shock kept going. He looked to the Indian girl with his big eyes and shy voice.

"Sydney?" Barrel asked sheepishly.

"Yes Barrel?" Sydney replied with a big smile.

"Good luck. And…be safe," Then Barrel took off after his two companions.

Sydney just smiled and shook her head. She wasn't very fond of Lock or Shock, but she thought Barrel was just the cutest thing ever. The way he acted shy and smiley around her just warmed her heart.

_Awwwwwww!_ Sydney cooed in her mind. _He's so cute in that little skeleton costume. His little crush on me really makes my…butt itch._

Sydney started scratching the small of her back. Her face tensed when she scratched as hard as she could, but still the itchy feeling wouldn't subside.

Sydney cursed, "Something must have crawled into my dress."

Sydney gnashed her teeth and began scratching with both hands.

"Oh god, what is this? It burns! The pain is killing me! I can't take it any more!"

Sydney grabbed the bottom hem of her Indian dress and yanked it over her head. With one arm she slung it hard against the ally wall. The silver rod's metallic bounce noise was muffled in the folds of her dress.

In nothing but a black bra, black panties, and an Indian bandana, Sydney stood feverishly scratching her lower back in the middle of the ally. Her bangs and hair waved with each fierce backward and forward motion of her arms. Tears started to accumulate in Sydney's eyes.

She screamed, "What is this? Why won't it stop itching? Why wont it STOP!"


	33. Chapter 33: Old Friends

Chapter 33

Old Friends

"Stupid hick humans," Jack muttered under his breath. He was glaring at the old, gray stonewall in front of him. He hung his arms and head through the gaps between the bars on his cell door in a lazy fashion. He'd felt like he'd been there for at least two hours.

"They don't even have any evidence."

Jack's holding cell was a little stone shack called a prison. Like wise, he was the only occupant. His cell was dark, damp, and moldy. The only light was illuminated from a single dim torch on the wall. There were no windows, was no food, and no chance of leaving.

"Hey!" Jack yelled through the bars, "Is anyone there? Hello? Visiting hours are over and I'm done visiting! Hello? Oh, come on! It was an accident! Let me out! I'm sorry."

Jack took in a deep breath, then released it. He gave up.

"I just hope Sydney's okay," He whispered to himself.

"Jack? Jack Skellington?" a young boy's voice replied.

Jack's head shot up. He looked around with only the dim torch to see.

The voice came from outside the wall, directly in front of Jack's cell. Jack could just barely recognize the voice.

"Hello? I s someone there?" Jack cried out in desperation, "Yes. I am Jack Skellington."

A Second person spoke. He gave a low laugh/gulp before saying, "That's him! That's the Pumpkin King! We got to bust him out!"

A third voice added, "Nope! No, we can't help him. That would be meddling."

The third voce was hard to describe, but he sounded like a duck.

The boy groaned, "Come on, Donald! He's our friend. We have to help him."

The duck threw a tantrum, "Sora, don't you dare—!"

In a blast of orange flames, the wall in front of Jack was suddenly blown in. Jack threw himself against one of his side cell walls to avoid the flying bricks. He closed his eye sockets until he was pretty sure that the dust from the broken brick had settled. What Jack saw when he opened them was the Key Barer, Sora, with his keyblade extended before him; having just shot a fireball from the slaying end of his key. Next to him were his traveling companions: a duck named Donald, and a tall, black, dog-like creature named Goofy.

Sora did a nifty spinning trick with his keyblade before resting it on his shoulder. He smiled big at Jack, "Could we be of some service?"

Jack grinned a big, grateful smile back, "Sora! Donald! Goofy! What are you guys doing here?"

Sora shrugged, "We're still trying to find King Mickey. Lucky we came by here."

"Oh, Sora, thank god you came—"

Jack stopped talking. His expression went from delighted to a frightened worry. He looked beyond Sora to see vast amounts of black smoke rising into the air. It seemed that a huge bonfire had been started in Town Square. Then came a girl's scream of torture.

Jack breathed, "Sydney."


	34. Chapter 34: The Itch

Chapter 34

The Itch

A young pilgrim boy ran into the ally from the street. He came concerned for the well being of the screamer he had just heard. What he saw there made is eyes boggle.

In the ally was a beautiful, young woman doing a strange Indian ritual dance. She was barely clothed by pieces of unique black cloth and an Indian bandana. Her sickly grunts that she made as she slashed her own body in her ritual dance, with tightly shuteyes and a tensed face, made the boy nervous.

In a shaky voice that was too high for his gender, he asked the girl, "Miss, are y-y-you o-o-okay?"

The girl flopped down to a crouch. Her head hung towards the ground; her face unseen through her thick locks. Deep growling vibrated in her throat. It terrified the boy.

He slowly approached the pained young woman. Naturally the boy would have fled, but the girl was in far too much pain for his big heart to just abandon her.

Step by step the boy crept to the girl, until he was only a foot away.

Afraid to even breath, the boy muttered, "Miss?"

He slowly reached out his hands toward her heaving body.

Just as his fingertips brushed the girls sweaty, tangled, hair, the crazed girl shot her head up and unleashed an ungodly scream! The boy stumbled back a few feet in surprise before toppling backwards. Fear left his feet and palms planted to the ground. He couldn't scream. He couldn't cry. All he could do was watch. Watch the insanity.

The girl in front of him had her head thrown back screaming. Drops of salted water gathered at the corners of her eyes as her pain reached its climax. The skin at the bottom of her lower back, directly on her spine, began to split open like a bloody blossom. Emerging from the broken skin tissue was a fuzzy little nub. The girl screamed her loudest and pulled at her hair as second after second the nub grew out from her skin longer and longer; until the nub grew out to be as thick as a C battery, limber, and three feet in length. The nub became a monkey tail, swaying back and forth above the ground.

The girl's screaming finally ceased. Her eyes were wide and her whole body heaved as she took her breaths by the lungful. She fell onto her shaking hands and knees, but she looked ready to collapse. Slowly, her head lifted to look directly at the boy who came to her aid. He was shaking just as much as she was. Her eyes sparkled with flooded tears. Her face was pathetic beyond any point that she would let any other human being see. She slowly extended one of her hands to the boy for him to help her.

And finally, she pleaded to him in an almost whispered voice, "H-h-h-help m-m-m-me…p-p-please."

The boy's eyes softened as his fear melted away, and he smiled at her. With a big grin he nodded his head to the troubled girl…then he screamed, "WITCH!"


	35. Chapter 35: How Burnt Do U Like Your

Chapter 35

How Burnt Do You Like Your Stake?

It was late afternoon. The air had chilled and the sun was going down. Along with the lowering sun were lowering eyebrows; disgusted glares from the people of Thanksgiving Town. Every man, woman, and child in town square either frowned, yelled, or spat at the barely dressed young woman bound to a wooden stake in the middle of the plaza. This young woman about to face an ill fate was none other than our very own Ms. Sydney Night.

Sydney was tied with her arms behind her back, her feet together, and her back to the stake. Her new tail stuck out to the side. She was bruised and beaten from the hash way that the residents treated her after she had been accused a witch. The pain and the itchy sensation from her tail were gone, but now the anxiety of being burned alive had risen in Sydney's chest. She could see that the numerous amount of men gathering wood around her feet to start a bon fire had almost completed their task. Within a matter of minutes the wood would be ignited, and a giant flame would engulf Sydney.

Watery, sad eyes were all that she could respond to the crowd. Sydney let her body hang limp against the rope's bindings; she was too tired to continue to struggle from her tethered prison.

Finally, the last block of wood had been tossed onto the pile of its cousins. This action sent all the people from yelling insults, to chanting, "Burn the witch! Burn the witch!" over and over again.

A strong, tan, Indiana man with jet-black hair took a step towards the woodpile. He ran two fingers over his scalp and pulled out a match, like someone would a bobby pin. In a quick motion he struck the match on a block of wood, and then he held it lit an inch from his grave face. Sydney's tired eyes looked at the match he held. She drew in a deep breath, then let it out. There was nothing else she could do. Sydney had finally given up at something.

The man sneered as the people continued to chant. He extended the match over the pile of wood. The crowd went silent.

In Sydney's eyes, when the Indiana dropped the match, the little burning stick fell in slow motion. It turned like a wheel several times before it finally touched the dry wood.

From there, time caught up with itself. The wood surrounding Sydney instantly went up in flame. The orange fire did its dance of death as it came closer and closer to Sydney. The heat and the danger were becoming more intense with each passing second.

Stubborn to the end, when the wood around Sydney caught fire, her face changed from tired to pissed-off. How dare they burn her at the stake! Sydney was not going to let them see her pain and fear. She did not want them to think they had won. She wouldn't. She couldn't. Sydney held her icy glare for all of them to see.

But after just twenty seconds of being roasted on an open fire, Sydney started to act human. Her eyes filled with tears and she let out a scream so terrible, so gagged with sadness, that even some of the town's people subconsciously pushed out a hand to her; as if she could just reach for it and be saved. All except the big, tough men had their expressions changed from hateful to sympatric. But on the inside, they were all feeling regret.

Sydney squeezed her eyes shut now to keep her eyeballs from bursting. Her scream was at its peak volume when the fire finally touched her toes.

And at that time, Sydney's scream formed words, "JACK, SAVE ME! PLEASE!"

However, her scream was more wishful thinking than it was an order. And unfortunately for Sydney, Jack couldn't hear her calls.

"Sydney!" Jack cried back to her.

Wow! It looks like Jack really could hear Sydney's calls. And with his cry competing with the cracking flames and Sydney's own screaming, she could just barely hear his voice.

"We're coming Sydney! Hang in there!" Jack said confidently.

At this point, Sydney didn't see any of her own rescue through her closed eyes, but she was told later by Jack what happened.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were flying over head using the magic skill they got from Peter Pan (entirely different story). Jack was in the sky with them, being secured around the waist by Goofy.

Swooping down for the saving, Sora left Donald, Goofy, and Jack in the air several feet above Sydney. Sora plunged headfirst towards Sydney's stake, then abruptly stopped three feet above the ground, and did a 180-degree back flip to be right side up. He then circled the fire with his key blade pointed at the fire's base, extinguishing it with a blizzard that shot out of the slaying end of his key blade. In seconds the heat and fire were gone. Upon this, Sydney's adrenalin had finally maxed-out and she fainted where she was bound.

Sora did a final precaution circle around the wooden stake before landing on the opposite side of the stake as Sydney. In one clean slice, Sora cut through the ropes that had Sydney tied down. Being unconscious, she began to fall forward, but Sora quickly flew around the stake to her. He caught her face forward, then gently turned her over so her legs and head could drape over both his arms. Having a good hold on her, Sora took a giant leap into the air that instantly became flight. He came up between Donald and Goofy, and then led the way into the circle of trees.

What Jack told Sydney later was the strangest thing: while she was being rescued by Sora, none of the town's people made any effort to stop him. He couldn't tell from the height he was at, but it looked to him like the people were thankful for what Soar did.


	36. Chapter 36: Sally's Prison

Chapter 36

Sally's Prison

Sally placed back and forth in her holding cell. Her head was down with one hand on her chin and an arm behind her back as she scrawled in concentration of a good escape plan. Her cell was like the inside of a ruby blue cave, but the space was about seven feet cubed. The only lighting was emitted from a single lantern hanging on the moist wall. Her only furnishings were a dingy mattress, a torn pillow, a damp blanket, and a rotting wooden chair.

Sally had tried everything she could think of to escape, but to no avail. After so many attempts at escaping, her dress was more torn and ratty than what it was before. Her hair was tangled and unkempt. And she was running extremely low on thread after having to reset her limbs time and time again. She tried dismemberment, faking sick, starting fires with her lantern, and several other hopeless things to escape her prison. The only thing she hadn't tried finally came to mind.

Sally stopped pacing and popped her head up excitedly, "Ah-ha!"

She took a step toward the old, wooden chair, lifted it over her head, and slammed it on the floor. The chair shattered to pieces. Sally grinned as she picked up a small piece that imitated a pencil.

"Pick the lock."

Sally crossed over to the large steel door that contained her in her room. On bent knees she inserted the wood into the keyhole, right above the door handle. She fished the wood around, listening intently for the marvelous clicks of the door unlocking. Twenty pulse pounding minutes passed and finally the door was unlocked. With a shaky hand, Sally reached for the handle. Cold steel against her zombie flesh became warm as her hand pulled down the door handle. The handle didn't stick; it came down and the door opened a crack. Sally let out a breath. She was satisfied, but her trials weren't over yet. She'd gotten outside of the cell before, but Shadow eventually caught her. It was like Shadow was some kind of hunter. She could just smell if Sally was around.

Sally opened the door just wide enough for her to squeeze through, when she stopped. In a moment of consideration, she closed the door just enough to look undisturbed.

Getting back to her feet, then crossing back to the broken chair was when Sally said, "Best to take a weapon with me this time."

An expression of examination was on Sally's face as she looked at the wood pieces. As if it were calling to her, Sally picked up the chair leg. It was just the right size and weight, and one end of it was already spiked to attack.

"Perfect."

Having already left the confides of her cell, Sally tiptoed down the corridor of the ruby blue cave. It was dark, but Sally's eyes managed to adjust. Her stake was held high and ready to slay in case anyone got the mind to attack her.

Sally had finally gone farther then she ever made it after several minutes. She was very impressed. Then she became perplexed when she came to a fork. It was either left or right, and they both looked exactly the same; long, dark, and grim. Sally thought about it for a moment, and then she only listened. Faint voices echoed from the entrance to her left. A gut feeling told her to avoid the voices, but a gut feeling inside that gut feeling told her that something evil dwelled in the silent cave to the right.

Sally shrugged, "How much worse could it get?"

Tiptoeing with her stake held high, Sally traveled to the end of the left tunnel. When she reached the end, Sally peered around the corner of the cave. Just as she had suspected, Oogie and his gooiness (Lock, Shock, and Barrel) were there. Hoping that she could just wait them out, Sally leaned her back against the cave wall, and then silently slid down on her bottom. She listened intently with her knees hugged to her chest, and gripping her only protection in her right hand.


	37. Chapter 37: The New Recruit

Chapter 37

A New Recruit

In Boogie's lair, Lock, Shock, and Barrel stood before Oogie's mighty flame self that burst from the cracks in the cavern floor. Each one was kneeled before him. Lock was the first one to speak.

"Mr. Oogie Boogie, sir, I've gathered two leads on who the Angel of Darkness could be! Two!" Lock spoke enthusiastically.

Barrel added timidly, "Um, Shock and I helped too."

But Oogie just ignored him; he was suddenly excited about Lock's news, "So, who

are they? Tell me!"

Lock answered, "Our very own Sydney Night and Shadow."

Oogie looked a bit surprised at this, "You really mean one of those two are the Angel of Darkness? Sydney and Shadow? Come on! Where's your proof?"

Lock smiled and held his hand out to the fire, "The prophecy if you will."

Oogie groaned. He shot out a few sparks into Lock's open palm, which was immediately shaken off with many 'Ow! Ow!'s, and then he shot out the scroll. The bossy little devil ordered his comrades to unroll the scroll and hold it open horizontally. They obeyed mainly because they were in Oogie's presence.

"Yes, yes," Lock said as he scanned the scroll, "Annnnnnnnd…here we are! The Angel of Darkness will be beautiful, and have a fighter's will. That's our Sydney."

Shock mumbled an objection that was ignored.

"And Shadow is both beautiful with a fighter's will, and she has the body of a monster."

Lock scanned the scrolled for a few more seconds, "Annnnnnnnd…that's it. I think you should find this information most helpful to you," Lock finished with a squint-eyed grin.

Oogie smiled back, true satisfaction was in his evil grin, "That is most helpful. And I have just the plan for the three of you."

Oogie suddenly sucked the scroll back into his flames, and chuckled in his throat at Shock, Lock and Barrel's surprised gasps.

"Alright, back to business, the plan I have for the three of you is to—"

But Oogie completely lost all interest in what he was saying when he saw Shadow's portal unexpectedly spiral open. Inside the green vortex revealed the demon herself dragging out a man by his shirt and coat collar. He was stumbling trying to keep up with Shadow's pace. The attention of everyone in the room was drawn to the sneering woman. She was delighted to show off her catch. Behind her, the portal spiraled to a close, and she threw the man down in front of Oogie. He moaned as he was slammed on his back.

"What's all this about?" Oogie raised a brow bone to the pale man.

Shadow crossed her arms and raised a foot on the man's chest, "Your newest recruit."

At first, Oogie's eyes widened in surprise, then his fire began to crackle with fury, "How DARE you make decisions without my permission—!"

Shadow raised a hand of silence, "Cool down, sir, don't get so heated. You should open the box before you return the package," Shadow lifted her leg from the man, "Get up," she demanded.

The man looked up at her with sparkling blue eyes, and then sneered with his arms behind his head, "Make me."

Shadow sneered back, then kicked him hard in the groin. The man heaved, gnashing his teeth.

With her angel smile, shadow leaned into the man's face, and said in her bittersweet voice, "Do you need any more encouragement?"

He slowly shook his head.

"Good. Now, get up."

Gradually, he rose to his feet. With his palms, he wiped the dirt from his duster. The pain in his most unholy region already evaporated (though, I don't think he'd like to go through that again). His posture was relaxed as he retrieved from his pocket a cigarette.

"Anyone got a lighter?" His effort of trying to keep his cigarette in his mouth killed the sexy tone in his British voice.

Oogie looked him up and down through slit eyes, "And who might you be?"

The man in the duster turned in surprise to Oogie; he'd never seen a talking fire before. He held the end of his cigarette in Oogie's flame, "William the Bloody," he removed the cigarette, replacing it in his mouth. After a few puffs, a cloud of smoke slide out from his lips, "But most people call me Spike."

"Do you have any experience in evil?" Barrel asked. Oogie shot him a warning look.

"Cute kid," Spike replied, "Let's see…hmmm…I killed two vampire slayers, as many humans as I could sink my teeth into, and any other creatures who try to get in my way. Now, would that qualify?"

Oogie was about to ask something else, but Spike cut him off, "Stop, I'm the one asking questions now. #1: What am I qualifying for? #2: Why am I here? And #3: How are you gonna make me behave?"

Oogie replied, "I want to see if you're good enough to work for me, you're here to serve me in any way I can think of, and if you don't, I'll send you right back where you came from."

Spike started gagging on his cigarette, "What! Send me back where I came from! Back to that lonely, crazy little mind! She's psycho! She's fucking loony!" Spike's tone was nervous as he yelled at no one in particular.

Oogie had him right where he wanted him, afraid, "Well then, I think we can strike up some kind of compromise—"

"Wait," Shadow raised a silencing hand to Oogie again (she was well aware of the danger in doing that). The feminine, perfect nose of Shadow sniffed the air. In a single bound, she leapt into the darkness of the cavern roof. There was a short moment of silence that passed awkwardly long for the five clueless creatures.

"What in the blazes is she doing?" Spike remarked bluntly.

Oogie made a motion in his flames that resembled a shrug.

Piercing the air, a muffled scream killed the silence. Sally's echo could be heard throughout the room. From a near by tunnel, Shadow soared above them all, with Sally kicking and screaming in her hands. The seams holding Sally together at the shoulders were beginning to split where she was currently being griped. They flew around in circles and in all odd shapes; no skin off Shadow's bones, but nauseating for Sally.

It was only a matter of time before Shadow got bored, "You have an impressive will, kid. Now let's see if you can land on your feet."

Sally's release left her breath-less; she fell in a rush of silent fear. It had been too long since Sally last felt the rush of falling from a suicide height. And even worse than landing on unforgiving ground, she crashed into vindictive Spike. There was a moment of haze between the two as Sally lay directly on top of the vampire.

When their minds came back into focus, Spike sneered up at Sally, "Hey there cutie. I like it better on top."

Sally slapped Spike hard enough to make his neck twist. When he turned his head back to her, his face became distorted with demonic features. His brow and cheek bones bulged from his face, his eyes were sinister, and his mouth was wide open to sink his razor teeth into Sally's neck. He thrust his head forward for a bite, but he just missed Sally as she rolled off of him. Both stumbled to their feet and assumed an attack position.

"Well, well, well," Spike said looking Sally up and down, "You don't look one bit human—"

He lunged for her. The delicate little rag doll dodged the attack by twirling to the side. Spike stopped and turned back to her, "Then that nasty little chip in my head shouldn't apply to you—"

He lashed out at Sally, once again missing, "The chip that won't allow me to harm humans."

Spike ran up to Sally and did a round house kick in the air. She ducked it, and then grabbed his closest leg, yanking it toward her. Spike came spilling down.

"Bugger," Spike moaned, "You're fast."

Sally's face was mistakenly too close to Spike's feet. He released a kick with his right leg, sending Sally flying backwards. He checked his head to see if it was throbbing.

"No pain," another sneer, "All game. You're definitely not human. Prepare to die—Ouf!"

Sally had leaped on Spike. She landed with her right knee digging into his abs, and her wooden stake driven into his left breast. Spike looked at the chair leg inserted into him with a heavy jaw, round eyes, and his old human face. Slowly, he brought a quivering hand to the splintered stick, but he just couldn't touch it. Sally watched in regret as Spike looked into her with big, puppy dog eyes.

"I'm…I'm sorry" A lump formed in Sally's throat. She had experienced her first kill.

"And I'm sorry," Spike whispered, "that…that you…missed!"

Spike's face became demonic again as he pulled Sally by her forearm into him. With her neck in range, lethal fangs were swiftly cut into her skin. Sally gasped as her body began to ache from the pain. But only after a moment of contact, a searing jolt rose in her neck as Spike pulled away without unclenching his bite. A clump of flesh was pulled away with Spike, which he immediately spat out.

Sally stumbled away from Spike as he pushed her off him. She held pressure over her neck wound. Quickly, Spike sat up and brushed his tongue rapidly with the palm of his hand. He glared at Sally, revolted.

"What's wrong with you?" Spike yelled, "Even monsters have some kind of taste, maybe even blood! But you—you taste like…" Spike reached into his mouth, and then pulled something small out. He stared at it with boggled eyes, "LEAVES! You're filled with leaves!"

Sally reacted by removing her hand from the gouge in her neck. Where Spike expected to see blood pour our, instead spilled leaves; dry, brown leaves.

"Bloody Hell!" Spike spat, "You're disgusting!"

Crack. Sally's heart broke. No one had ever called her disgusting before.

"You…you think I'm…disgusting?" The dreaded lump had formed in Sally's throat again. A seam in her left shoulder began to weaken.

"Vial!"

"No," Sally muttered. Her weakened shoulder seam had lost even more strength,

"You're lying."

"Come on," Shadow demanded. The demon grabbed Sally by the forearm and began dragging her off to her cold, dark cell. Sally didn't resist; she already felt beaten by words.

_Oh,_ Shadow thought, _A weakness. _

"Move it faster…ugly," Shadow whispered in her ear. A thread in one of Sally's fingers snapped.


	38. Chapter 38: A New Lead

Chapter 38

A New Lead

Spike stood, hands-on-hips, as he watched Sally get dragged off by the ruthless Shadow. He chuckled in his throat, "Got yours."

With a spin on his heels, Spike began pacing toward Oogie, "Now, back to business; what is it, and how are you paying me?" Spike took another cigarette from his pocket to replace the one he lost in the brawl, and lit it with Oogie's flame.

"The job is simple," Oogie began, "You do what I say, when I say, and I'll give you…hmmmm…" Oogie took a hard look at Spike. Those cold, soulless eyes of Oogie's traveled Spike up from his steel toed boots, to his glistening smart-ass smile.

"Blood," Oogie said, "I'll pay you in blood."

Spike took a drag from his cigarette, and then gave a dry laugh, "Pah! Who do you take me for? You think I died yesterday? Blood is not rare enough to be bargained for—"

"It is in this world," Oogie cut him off, "I figure that you favor the taste of human blood, but you won't find any of that on your own. The only human in this world just so happens to be working for me. And I wont allow you to kill her until she's fulfilled her duties to me."

Spike opened his mouth to counter, but nothing came out. He was cornered.

"Getting a little thirsty, vampire?" Oogie teased.

Spike released a heavy breath, and licked his lips. He could use a pint or two about now.

"Fine!" Spike gave in, "I'll work for you, but I want blood daily, and I want my first payment now!"

"No, you start work today, and I'll pay you tomorrow."

"NOW!"

Oogie shot out two things that resembled arms from his flame, and wrapped them around Spike's neck. He felt the burning sensation of heat, without actually being scorched. And even though he didn't breath, Spike felt he was chocking.

"You will do as I say, and you will accept your payment tomorrow. Is that clear?"

Spike nodded.

"Good."

Oogie released Spike. The vamp fell weak on his knees. He coughed a few times and hit his chest to dislodge the cigarette that was half way down his throat.

"What's the first thing I have to do?"

Discreetly, a green portal began to slowly spiral open behind Spike as he started standing up.

Oogie ordered, "Find my human, Sydney Night, and join her on her quest to retrieve the holiday items from my list. Keep her going. Do not let her give up of get killed. She is the only one close enough to Jack to keep him in my game plan."

"Who's Jack?" Spike asked.

"Never mind that, now go—"

"Curious," Spike interrupted, persistent for answers, "What was the bargain that you made with the human?"

"None of your business," Oogie snapped, and with a sudden expansion of his flames, he startled Spike to stumble backwards and fall into the portal. It instantly spiraled inward swallowing Spike whole.

"Finally," Oogie breathed.

There was sudden enthusiasm from Lock, "Mr. Oogie Boogie, sir, did you notice that?"

"Notice what?"

"Sally! Doll face! Oh, this changes everything! Everything!"

"What are you going on about now?"

"Sally's the third lead!"

A gasp escaped everyone's lips.

"But-but how could this be?"

"Just look at it," Lock counted on his fingers, "#1: She is beautiful (a groan came from Shock). #2: Her stitches are her scars. And #3: During a battle, she will penetrate a dead man, and that's exactly what she did."

Lock waited for an understanding response, but only received blank stares, "Ugh! Vampires are dead. Spike is a vampire. Sally fought Spike, and then she stabbed him," he released a breath, "Do you see now?"

"Yes…" Oogie pondered, "This really does change things. All right, here's how it is, Lock you watch over Sally. Shock you monitor Sydney. And Barrel you watch Shadow."

"WHAT?" Barrel shrieked.

"You all are to watch over the women you've been assigned. If any other hints to the prophecy arise, or new information occurs, don't hesitate to inform me."

And before another word could be said, Oogie's flames rose up for a moment, then disappeared entirely. Lock, Shock, and Barrel were left standing alone. A green portal spiraled open and the three jumped in, but not before Barrel whined, "Why do I always get the short end of the stick?"


End file.
